A clip from Fox & Friends is making the rounds after the hosts went to extraordinary lengths to avoid referring to President Trump's use of a server as a "server."
Following a formal whistleblower complaint last week, the Trump White House admitted to moving the rough transcript of a July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from the usual White House system to a special, "top secret" White House server, despite Trump's claims that the call was completely above board.
While it's not unusual for codeword-sensitive servers to be used to store highly classified information, the fact that Trump and Fox News have continued to criticize Hillary Clinton for using a private server when she was secretary of state has posed a problem for Fox News as they've covered the Ukraine scandal.
So in order to talk about it on Fox & Friends on Monday, hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade did a lot of verbal gymnastics to describe the server, referring to it as a "super-secret separate computer" and a "super-secret gizmo computer."
The Daily Show mocked the hosts by turning the clip into a mock Password game show clue.
Many found the irony of the situation laughable.
@TheDailyShow And what sort of things are stored on servers? Come on we all know the answer... https://t.co/JupUdmlGsw— Resist ❄️🌊🌎💙☕️🐝 (@Resist ❄️🌊🌎💙☕️🐝) 1569867339.0
@TheDailyShow https://t.co/25Aq34iWDM— Aad Groeneveld- English-Dutch-English Translator (@Aad Groeneveld- English-Dutch-English Translator) 1569867499.0
@TheDailyShow Because SERVER is the word they used for Hillary's emails. Can't show that irony, can they?— Ireland in Philly🌊 (@Ireland in Philly🌊) 1569867178.0
Then again, maybe that's the only kind of language Fox News' audience understands when it comes to computers.
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@TheDailyShow They can say it !! Their viewers will probably think they are talking about a waiter in a restaurant— the Only Juan (@the Only Juan) 1569867686.0
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"Super secret gizmo computer" does have a nice ring to it, though.
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@TheDailyShow Dear Santa, I would like a Super Secret Gizmo Computer for Christmas. P.S. Do you know a good place I can place it?— Richard Weigand (@Richard Weigand) 1569884103.0
But, honestly, are we really surprised?
It's Fox News after all.
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The book The Fox Effect: How Roger Ailes Turned a Network into a Propaganda Machine is available here.
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