Liberal Fox News Host Juan Williams called out his network's pattern of hawking false news stories during Tuesday's broadcast of The Five.
While discussing allegations former Secretary of State John Kerry met with Iran's Foreign Minister and disclosed confidential Israeli military information, Fox host Greg Gutfeld quoted his colleague Dagen McDowell as saying Kerry—who is now serving as the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate in President Joe Biden's Administration—was the "dumbest person in D.C. and probably a racist."
The comment elicited chuckles from the group—with the exception of Williams, who was prompted to speak out.
Said Williams:
"I think it's not good that we go after people like that who are doing public service. But I think it's fine if you just want to have fun with it, go right ahead."
Williams mentioned even staunch Republican Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina urged conservatives to hold off on their assumptions regarding the claims of Kerry sharing Israeli intelligence with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The Fox host continued by citing two viral right-wing news stories pushed on the network and later debunked as reasons why he was "worried" about covering the allegations toward Kerry.
You can watch the clip below.
Williams continued:
"But to me when you talk about oh, this right-wing going after John Kerry, they don't like John Kerry, it just worries me like last week we had the hamburger story, 'Oh, Biden is going to take your hamburger."
The hamburger story referred to a misleading article in The Daily Mail about a 2020 study that suggested Biden's new climate plan called for a reduction of red meat. It was highly publicized by conservatives and parroted on Fox News.
He also mentioned the false report of "Kamala Harris' book is being given to immigrants!" before asserting:
"These stories are false, but the right-wing echo chamber starts going crazy because you can go after a Democrat."
Twitter appreciated Williams for fighting the good fight.
Others wondered why someone with a conscience would stay working for the conservative entertainment network.
Gutfeld was raked across the coals for dismissing Williams' comment with a false "whataboutism" at the end of the segment when he said:
"Like I said, learn from the best. Steel dossier all the way!"
@CAN_USA_James/Twitter
Kerry denied the allegations against him of informing Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Israel had struck Iranian targets in Syria.
On Monday night, Kerry tweeted:
"I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false. This never happened—either when I was Secretary of State or since."
Republicans have called for Kerry's resignation as the Biden Administration's special climate envoy over a leaked tape in which Zarif claimed Kerry shared Israeli intelligence with him and told him Israel "attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times."
On Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters he "can't speak to the authenticity [and] can't speak to the accuracy of" the comments made by Iran's Foreign Minister.
Price added:
"If you go back and look at press reporting from the time, this certainly was not secret, and governments that were involved were speaking to this publicly on the record."
As Williams mentioned earlier, Senator Lindsey Graham said he did not know whether to trust the tape or not, adding, "If it's true, it's very damaging."
"I like John Kerry, but that would not be helpful, and it would be very problematic if it were true. But let's wait and see how authentic this is," said Graham.
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