Here’s How Fox News Reacted to the “Trump Tried to Fire Mueller” Story

By Shane Ryan  |  January 26, 2018 | 8:10am
Screencap via Twitter
Politics Features Donald Trump
Here’s How Fox News Reacted to the “Trump Tried to Fire Mueller” Story

Last night, news broke that Donald Trump tried to have special prosecutor Robert Mueller fired in June—about a month after he took over the Russia investigation. Trump cited three conflicts of interest, including an alleged dispute over membership fees at one of his golf courses. He actually issued the order, but White House counsel Donald F. McGahn II refused and threatened to quit. McGahn made his case to White House officials, and Trump backed down. Mueller has known about this episode for months, and it may end up being a critical part of his investigation.

Obviously, this is a huge story, and many have called it a clear case of obstruction. On the cable news networks, it was the lead story.

Well, most of the cable news networks. Here’s what ran on Fox News at the critical moment:

Yup—while CNN and MSNBC were getting to the bottom of the Mueller case, Fox News was doing some weird race baiting thing about Obama…a man who is not president anymore.

But the most amazing clip came from Hannity a little while later. You have to see this to believe it—the clip in the tweet below contains two excerpts that came minutes apart, and it’s high, high comedy:

The car crash transition at the end = chef kissing fingers:

Then, Hannity delivered this unintentionally hilarious response:

Why on earth would he add the green? Why?

The fun continued this morning on Fox & Friends—Trump’s favorite show—when they desperately pushed a “look at the economy!” piece, and even brought on a black Republican radio host to puff up Trump’s “accomplishments”:

At this point, of course, Fox News has begun to cover the fact that Trump tried have Mueller fired. Even state television can’t avoid something this big for long. But the initial reaction tells you everything you need to know about the rightward ideological bent of the network. (As if you needed telling.)

But they’ve taken special care to make sure they’re on the same page about the idea of Trump talking to Mueller. So much so, in fact, that they’re all using the same term: “Perjury trap.”

What that means, at its core, is that they’re afraid Trump will say or do something incriminating if he talks to Mueller, and they’re laying the groundwork to try to cover his rear with the American people when it happens. It’s “protect the president” 101. Nothing to see here, folks!

Finally, this tweet has nothing to do with Fox News, but it’s a great tweet anyway, and hits at what is sure to be a core argument for Team Trump and their media lackeys in the coming week:

 
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