Decoding Fox News

Last week on Fox News Jesse Watters invited a cavalcade of conspiracy theorists who enthusiastically demonized the transgender community and blamed them for the murder of Charlie Kirk. Never mind that the suspect in Kirk’s murder, Tyler Robinson, is a cis-gender young man who was raised in a deeply religious and politically conservative gun-loving family.So far there is no evidence that Robinson worked with an accomplice or coordinated with a larger political organization. According to the series of text messages released by authorities even Robinson’s romantic partner, who happens to be transgender, had no advance notice of his plans to allegedly shoot Charlie Kirk.Watters could have invited former law enforcement officials, a criminal profiler, or a ballistic expert to talk about the horrific crime. The Fox News host could have spoken with people Charlie Kirk worked with at his foundation Turning Point USA or a student who was inspired by Kirk’s advocacy for his faith or political causes.Instead, Watters gave a platform to conspiracy theorists who have peddled false stories about sex trafficking, racist immigration schemes and lies about the 2020 presidential election. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Fox News hosts and guests blamed Kirk’s murder on leftwing extremism even though most political violence in the United States is committed by rightwing individuals and groups. In Colorado a young man radicalized in white supremacy committed a mass shooting at a school on the same day Kirk was killed.While the folks at Fox News called for an end to the violence and heated rhetoric they also demonized and trashed anyone left of center by making them collectively responsible for Kirk’s death as well a slew of other assassination attempts.The message was clear - liberals, progressives and leftists are evil extremists who hate the country. If they don’t stop criticizing the right the Trump administration would hunt them down, destroy their lives and silence their voices. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week most American media companies broadcast live coverage of a humble press conference organized by adult survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking criminal enterprise in front of the Capitol building.Fox News completely ignored it. The network spent most of its focus on Trump’s threats to send National Guard troops into Chicago, RFK Jr.’s Senate hearing and what one Fox contributor described as the Democrat Party’s death spiral.Women sharing their stories about suffering abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, a high-rolling billionaire with powerful friends and allies including the president was not a story that Fox News wanted to elevate. Fox producers did include a few short segments about Sydney Sweeney’s jeans commercial - no really, they did that. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Hosts dig into Fox News's jubilant coverage of Trump's proposed National Guard deployment to Chicago, despite misleading crime rate statistics. They tackle the troubling media narratives surrounding a recent mass shooting, emphasizing the need for a deeper dialogue on gun violence and mental health. The discussion spans the legacy of redlining, the struggles of an undocumented immigrant, and critiques on the Republican Party's disconnect with public sentiment. Plus, a light-hearted reflection on building a podcast without funding, illustrating their journey with humor.

Last week on Fox News California Governor Gavin Newsom’s social media posts got everyone worked up, Laura Ingraham celebrated Trump’s federal takeover of Washington D.C. and the network pretended Trump negotiated a major peace deal with Russia and Ukraine even though he didn’t. Fox also finally uttered the name of ‘he who shall not be named’ - Jeffrey Epstein.Fox News also spent a lot of time and focus on gerrymandering battles in Texas and California, a fatal car accident involving an undocumented immigrant driver and Cracker Barrel’s newly designed logo.The phrase ‘Cracker Barrel’ appeared in the transcripts 40 times last week while ‘Israel’ only showed up seven times. After two weeks of showing some interest in the Israel-Hamas conflict the network went right back to ignoring it. Fox News spends very little airtime on the plight of nearly two million people in war-torn Gaza or the remaining Israeli hostages who have been held captive for nearly 700 days. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News misled its viewers about gerrymandering, hyped up a summit with Putin in Alaska, downplayed Trump’s decision to send the National Guard into Washington D.C., demonized a man who hit a federal law enforcement agent with a foot-long Subway sandwich and finally admitted no one really cared about the Sydney Sweeney jeans commercial.“Fox & Friends,” “The Five,” and “Hannity” boasted to their audiences that a recent poll showed that only 12% of Americans were offended by the Sydney Sweeney jeans ad. Instead of conceding that they spent far too much time, energy and focus on a commercial no one cared about, Fox News personalities portrayed the poll as validation for their excessive coverage.The jeans ad was a three-week story on the network while the word ‘Epstein’ did not appear once in the transcripts from last week. Fox News is apparently not concerned that its glorious leader might have had sex with minor-aged girls or supported a sex trafficking ring in any way. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Fox News hyped up the Trump-Putin summit as if it would be this huge victory for the president. It was an abject failure. The legit news team didn’t hide the fact that the summit was a nothing burger. The opinion news team attempted to spin it. I take you through the entire train wreck covering five hours of Fox News programming from “The Five” to “Hannity.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Fox News, the unofficial propaganda network for the Trump administration, continued to largely ignore the Epstein files, a trove of documents that might link the president to a child sex trafficking ring.Last week the network put most of its focus on a gerrymandering battle that involved Democratic Texas state representatives, the Trump administration, Texas Governor Greg Abbott along with the governors of Illinois, New York and California.Jesse Watters presented the legislative fight as a war between good and evil for the soul of America. Although he over hyped the drama at least it was an important news story unlike the network’s other distractions from the Epstein files. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week the folks at Fox News pretended the ‘Epstein files’ didn’t exist while everyone at the network got extremely worked up over an American Eagle commercial that featured the actress, Sydney Sweeney. The advertisement was yet another culture war fixation meant to distract from Trump’s possible involvement with the sex trafficking of underage girls.The political furor surrounding the Epstein files has reached the rare distinction of being a bipartisan crusade. Americans across the political spectrum have become obsessed with the mysterious circumstances surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s death, his once close relationship with the president of the United States and the secrecy surrounding documents related to his alleged sex trafficking operation.Trump and his intelligence officials promised they would declassify everything related to Jeffrey Epstein once they had the power to do so. After months of excuses Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel along with Deputy Director Dan Bongino told the American public that there was nothing to reveal. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Since Fox News decided to completely ignore the current scandal surrounding President Trump and The Epstein Files I went through my archives to find every past segment on Jeffrey Epstein from the past 3.5 years. I’m organized them by subject. The clips are full of selective outrage and hypocrisy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe