Shep Smith Departs From Fox News Orthodoxy By Criticizing Trump, Gets Yelled At
Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Politics Features Shep Smith
Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace are the only two anchors at Fox News who can consistently be relied on to report actual news, and not the state-media line coming out of President Trump’s favorite network. Smith had Wallace on to talk about the latest developments in the pipe bombing case of Cesar Sayoc, who allegedly tried to assassinate a litany of high-profile politicians frequently targeted by Trump.
The van that appears to be connected to the suspected bomber is covered in pro-Trump stickers, including the presidential seal, and what MSNBC says investigators referred to as other “right-wing paraphernalia.” pic.twitter.com/gjIleeu3yb
— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) October 26, 2018
Smith made the reasonable point that Trump’s invective of things like “CNN sucks” have a clear impact on the discourse in this country, as evidenced by the “CNN sucks” bumper stickers on Sayoc’s car. He wasn’t implicitly blaming Trump for the bombing—just for helping to create the atmosphere for stuff like this—but that didn’t stop Chris Wallace from picking up the Fox News mantle and criticizing Shep for going after Dear Leader.
Shep Smith and Chris Wallace just got into bit of a spat on Fox News. pic.twitter.com/gqOxTvu100
— Jacob Weindling (@Jakeweindling) October 26, 2018
Yes, Bernie Sanders does talk about the evil perpetrated by Republican politicians, but he expresses his displeasure through policy. He doesn’t say things like “If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.” Trump has introduced a kind of rhetoric into politics that used to be confined to the fringes, and it’s insane to think that it doesn’t have an effect—especially on someone who has a van that is a walking “billboard” for Trump’s anger and divisiveness. Shep Smith, not Chris Wallace, is clearly the top journalist at Fox News.
Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.