This week’s infighting
- In a remarkable shift, Fox News host Sean Hannity has all but stopped talking about the Iran war on his primetime show in recent weeks. As the war has only gotten worse for the Trump administration, Media Matters’ Matt Gertz offers some analysis as to why Hannity has decided to go silent on the issue. It’s worth remembering that on March 30, Hannity told his radio audience, “It’s going to be on the verge of wrapping up no later than three weeks from today is my prediction.”
- Newsmax’s Michael Savage said, “ICE is not going after the worst of the worst. … They’re going after innocent people.” Savage went on to say, “This is why Trump’s popularity is falling.”
Fox News has spent over 13 ½ hours waging an WNBA culture war this summer
Fox News has filled its summer programming with extensive coverage of the WNBA, airing numerous segments on the league and its players that stoked culture war tensions related to race, trans athletes, and much more.
Since June 25, Fox News has devoted over 13 ½ hours of programming to the WNBA, much of which criticized the league over issues pertaining to race and trans inclusion in women’s sports. This is part of a larger trend for Fox, which has in the past attacked women’s basketball and the WNBA. In the lead up to the 2024 election, Fox also saturated its airwaves on the topic of trans athletes.
To put into context how much this coverage is, here is a comparison to some movies and a television show:
If you would like to read more about this absurd programming on Fox, check out this great study.
Excuse me?
- Many on Fox News and Fox Business are arguing that the economy under Trump is “booming” and “going gangbusters,” even though many months of the Trump administration have included job losses, inflation remains elevated, wages are stagnant, and economic growth remains below the second half of the Biden administration.
- On LindellTV, Tina Peters called on Pete Hegseth and the Department of Defense to “go in and demand to have these” voting machines “in their custody.”
Right-wing media have been arguing for decades that fewer Americans should have the right to vote
With the midterms approaching, the Trump administration and its allies seem desperate to suppress the vote. Whether through proposed legislation or executive orders, Trump is pushing policies that could disenfranchise many Americans and prevent people from voting. But this effort to suppress the vote has significant ideological precedent. For decades, right-wing media figures have advocated restrictions on voter eligibility, laying the groundwork for the administration’s recent actions.
We found that primetime hosts, podcasters, columnists, and the like have attacked women’s right to vote, encouraged limiting the vote to property owners or heads of households, and advocated civics tests as a voting eligibility requirement. Some have outright stated that they only want people who share their political beliefs to be eligible to vote, or suggested kicking recipients of government assistance off the voter rolls.
More recently, right-wing figures have warned of alleged attempts to “steal elections,” continuing a years-long campaign of misinformation about mass election interference and widespread fraud. Some commentators and election deniers have advocated for restrictions on mail-in voting, getting “rid of” voting machines, or sending ICE agents to polling places. Others have called on Trump to sign an executive order declaring a “national emergency” to give himself “king-like powers” over the midterms.
This week, Trump appeared to give credence to this idea during an interview with Real America’s Voice host Wayne Allyn Root, who pitched Trump on declaring a national emergency in the lead up to the elections. Trump responded by saying, “Stranger things have happened, OK?”
How Fox News is trying to cover up the Rep. Max Miller alleged domestic abuse scandal
Fox News is keeping its viewers in the dark about the gruesome allegations that Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) physically and emotionally abused his ex-wife, Emily Moreno, and his 2-year-old daughter. Since late July, when the story began receiving national attention, through earlier this week, Fox had given it only 6 minutes of airtime — and none at all in primetime.
The details of the alleged abuse are horrifying enough that Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who is also Miller’s former father-in-law, called Miller unfit for office. Ohio’s other Republican senator, Jon Husted, called on Miller to resign. Even Trump has reportedly raised concerns about Miller’s reelection campaign. Fox News, however, has barely brought the issue to its viewers' attention.
While Fox responded to the scandal with a mere 6 minutes of coverage, its right-wing competitor Newsmax provided 1 hour and 43 minutes of airtime, according to a Media Matters review.
https://www.mediamatters.org/media-matters-weekly-newsletter/media-matters-weekly-newsletter-august-14
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