With the announcement that Bill Hemmer will replace Shepard Smith as the 3 PM anchor on Fox News, it is now official that a Trump propagandist will replace a truthteller.

From the Fox News announcement:

“Bill is an incredible newsman and his ability to cut to the heart of the story while humanizing major events has made him a standout talent in news. As we start gearing up for the 2020 election, we are thrilled to have him lead our news division through what will sure to be an eventful year,” Fox News Media president and executive editor Jay Wallace said in a statement.,

Hemmer will lead all breaking news coverage in addition to hosting the straight-news program from the network’s FOX News Deck.

Translation: Fox now has a Trumper at the helm of election coverage.

Some examples of Hemmer’s brand of "straight news" journalism:

After Donald Trump smeared Rep. Elijah Cummings, Hemmer prodded Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to attack him, too, while Hemmer pretended Trump had merely acted out of concern for the city of Baltimore.

Shortly before the 2016 election, Hemmer told then-RNC chief strategist and communications director Sean Spicer: “I’m looking at early voting. You have good news in Ohio. White share of the vote’s up three points from four years ago. Black share of the vote is down seven.”

After Trump’s unhinged attack on Germany during a 2018 NATO breakfast, Hemmer instructed guest Bill Richardson, ““You know the president’s direct. Don’t tell me what you did not like today, tell me what you did like.”

Hemmer clearly signaled he thought Donald Trump Jr. should refuse to honor a Congressional subpoena to testify about the Trump campaign’s activities regarding Russia.

You probably get the picture.

Smith, meanwhile, made a point of debunking propaganda – and for that he was vilified and either directly or indirectly pushed out.

In October, shortly after Smith’s abrupt resignation, I wrote that his departure was a power gain for the Trump toadies. Sadly, I was right.

Hemmer, currently the co-anchor of America’s Newsroom, said the change will occur in January. The new show is to be called “Bill Hemmer Reports.”

Watch the co-anchors' announcement below, from the December 9, 2019 America’s Newsroom.