Fox News was widely mocked after the network aired a graphic claiming that former President Donald Trump is pivoting his campaign message after the attempt on his life at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
The graphic made the rounds after Trump announced in an interview with The Washington Examiner that he had revised his speech for this week’s Republican National Convention to emphasize unity following the assassination attempt.
Trump said that had the event "not happened, this would’ve been one of the most incredible speeches” focused predominantly on rebuking President Joe Biden and his policies.
He added:
“This is a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world, together. The speech will be a lot different, a lot different than it would’ve been two days ago."
And Fox News ran with it—the segment, featuring host Jesse Watters, included a graphic with the following caption:
"Trump Will Run on Peace, Unity, & Love"
You can see the graphic below.
Fox News
From the moment he took office, Trump made clear there were in-groups—comprised of his followers, many of whom are aligned with growing White nationalist and Christian nationalist movements—and out-groups, largely comprised of people who did not vote for him or who were perceived as a threat to his narrow vision of United States supremacy.
Some of the groups Trump attacked during his presidency include but are not limited to:
- Those from Muslim-majority countries, who were subjected to a travel ban within days of his taking office;
- Those who took to the streets to condemn racism and police brutality following the murder of George Floyd, who he suggested should be shot "when the looting starts," breathing life into stereotypes about people of color being more inclined toward criminality;
- Those from Haiti and African nations, who he suggested should not be allowed to immigrate to the United States because they come from "sh*thole countries";
- Indigenous groups who found themselves in a protracted battle for their tribal and ancestral lands after Trump gave fossil fuel companies even more freedom to drill for oil and natural gas;
- Journalists and other members of the free press who were constantly referred to as "enemies of the people";
- The entire United States intelligence community, particularly in regard to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 general election;
- Members of the LGBTQ+ community, who criticized the Trump administration for drawing up anti-LGBTQ+ policy and for courting the support of evangelist groups hellbent on overturning Supreme Court rulings that ushered in an era of marriage equality and overturned sodomy laws;
- Migrants, predominantly those crossing the nation's southern border whom Trump referred to as "rapists" and who were targeted by the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" family separation policy that was widely condemned by human rights groups;
- Immigrants at large, who were undeniably made to feel unwelcome as a result of immigration architect and senior adviser Stephen Miller's draconian policies;
- Chinese people and those from other East Asian countries, who became more likely to be the victims of hate crimes after Trump employed racist rhetoric to blame China for the spread of COVID-19, which the Trump administration wilfully ignored on the belief that the pandemic would largely impact blue states;
- Women, who bore the brunt of misogynistic pejoratives and more blatant attacks well before Trump referred to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a "nasty woman" on the campaign trail;
- Sexual assault survivors, who Trump often sought to discredit, even using the Department of Justice (DOJ) to impugn his own accusers and having the Department of Education (DOE) revise rules designed to address an epidemic of sexual violence on college campuses
These well-documented facts don't exactly lend themselves to "peace, love, and unity," prompting many to criticize Fox News for its clueless graphic.
And as predicted, it didn't take long for Trump to return to his normal communication style after Judge Aileen Cannon threw out the federal classified documents case against him.
Trump's usual divisive post read as follows:
Despite the attack on Saturday, Trump's top aides quickly reassured the public that he would still attend the Republican convention. On Sunday, Trump expressed his eagerness to speak to the nation in Wisconsin.
Trump explained his decision to leave for the convention on Sunday afternoon, stating:
“I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else.”
Trump is set to formally accept the GOP nomination on Thursday night and is expected to announce his running mate during the convention, likely today.
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