Fox News has often been accused of downplaying the events of January 6, the day a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the United States Capitol on the false premise the 2020 election had been stolen.
Now, more than a year after an actual insurrection, the network appears to have identified the "real" insurrectionist. Her name: Hillary Clinton.
Fox News identified Clinton as "the real insurrectionist" in a news chyron graphic featured on host Jesse Watters’ show.
The decision to label Clinton as such comes amid reports about a dubious filing by Justice Department special counsel John Durham alleging that Clinton's campaign had paid a tech company to hack into Trump Tower servers to look for links between then-candidate Donald Trump and Russia.
Among the allegations included in the filing is one stating that Michael Sussmann, a lawyer who allegedly advised Clinton’s presidential campaign, met with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and shared documents relating to the Trump Organization and its communications with the Russian Alfa-Bank.
The narrative spun by the rightwing about the Clinton campaign spying on Trump has been ably debunked by The New York Times among other outlets. But regardless, Durham's bonkers allegations don't come close to equating to the January 6th riot, which was an actual attempt to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power by violent means. In other words: an insurrection.
People did not hold back from slamming Fox News for the over the top graphic.
Former President Trump responded to news of the filing with a statement saying that it “provides indisputable evidence” that the Clinton campaign and its operatives spied on him “in an effort to develop a completely fabricated connection to Russia.
“In a stronger period of time in our country, this crime would have been punishable by death,” Trump added, a statement that has been largely perceived as encouraging the execution of his political enemies.
Trump's statements were backed by Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican and prominent Trump acolyte, who said Trump’s call for the executions of those who worked on Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign is “right on target.”
Jordan has since appeared on Fox News to amplify the news of the filing, saying that it proves that Clinton and her operatives are guilty of spying on a President of the United States.
Narrator: it does not.
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