Fox News has never been strong at recognizing satire, and are so focused on riling up their base, often they outright ignore satire.
The cover of Time Magazine was perfect fodder for this type of blind criticism.
The cover, which depicts Joe Biden standing in a trashed Oval Office on the first day of his presidency, received a very puzzling critique from anchor Harris Faulkner.
TIME's new cover: Day one https://t.co/VazxGDJzZf https://t.co/R6jVrzXXZc— TIME (@TIME) 1611230700.0
Faulkner's criticism said the image was "not real," to which the general American public said, "duh."
Harris Faulkner appears to be unfamiliar with the concept of satire https://t.co/8cXBUDrM0B— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1611334501.0
Faulkner declared:
"If you saw that on the opposite with a conservative President and it was, you know, all over the place, mainstream media would be on fire about it."
"But with Joe Biden it's OK to do this?"
"Let's see if others in the mainstream media have the gumption to call out the fact that that's just a complete lie."
@atrupar https://t.co/Tv24oIJmmo— Peter (@Peter) 1611337254.0
@atrupar https://t.co/KcLzApldDs— ∞∞∞ ᏗᏒᏖ ∞∞∞ (@∞∞∞ ᏗᏒᏖ ∞∞∞) 1611335768.0
@atrupar https://t.co/jqoXyfcawO— David M. Foody (@David M. Foody) 1611337087.0
@atrupar https://t.co/iNCoXu7nBz— Tim O'Brien (@Tim O'Brien) 1611338311.0
@atrupar https://t.co/tyt9iOJnNx— Marcus Olofzon 🇸🇪 (@Marcus Olofzon 🇸🇪) 1611336666.0
Most people are really lost as to what Faulkner's point was supposed to be, given the picture is obviously a political cartoon and therefore, very obviously, not "real."
@atrupar The whole segment was ridiculous! At the end of the segment, Harris Faulkner was so fired up about the co… https://t.co/HCiykAGWgK— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1611337063.0
@atrupar Hold the phone, are you telling me that Trump never actually melted? https://t.co/JTDcv94NKN— Fernando Perez (@Fernando Perez) 1611334673.0
"That's not real" I shout at every painting in MoMA https://t.co/IcWVXJLnbs— Jur (@Jur) 1611335024.0
@atrupar @Dupe1970 She's right that it's deceptive, though. The only clue the casual viewer would have that this de… https://t.co/vfVsyEcsRC— Mike Hoyer (@Mike Hoyer) 1611341400.0
Others were more puzzled regarding Faulkner's statement she "thought we were a nation who cared about facts," coming from the "alternative facts" news-station itself.
On Fox, @HARRISFAULKNER rails against the "complete lie" that is @TIME's cover: "That's not real! That picture isn'… https://t.co/Ws8aNUANIA— Oliver Darcy (@Oliver Darcy) 1611334816.0
Dear @HARRISFAULKNER Two things. 1 You work for @FoxNews. So I would never talk about "facts" again. 2 That is… https://t.co/szaBz7s24W— Don Winslow (@Don Winslow) 1611336502.0
This is a whole new level of stupid, @HARRISFAULKNER. https://t.co/bKHqDeURHu— Travis Akers (@Travis Akers) 1611343063.0
Harris Faulkner’s critique of TIME’s new cover: https://t.co/CVZEKi5bJh— Shea Depmore (@Shea Depmore) 1611505046.0
Nobody tell @HARRISFAULKNER about editorial cartoons... https://t.co/Y9ksaJr3dk— Ari Cohn (@Ari Cohn) 1611353301.0
Nevertheless, Faulkner seems acutely unaware American political cartoons have been around since 1754—before the founding of the United States.