Comedian Bess Kalb, who has written for both the Primetime Emmy and Academy Award ceremonies offered a rather biting observation of the coverage news outlets have dedicated to the arrest of President Donald Trump’s longtime former political adviser Roger Stone.
Kalb suggested that Fox News, the top-rated program in red states, would spend more time criticizing Democratic darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and undermining the science behind climate change than reporting on Trump administration scandals.
Fox News has in the past been accused of covering major stories regarding the Trump administration for the sake of partisanship. While Stone's arrest was discussed among the panelists of "Fox and Friends," at least one person observed that Fox News trailed behind other outlets at the time the news broke because its staff dedicated time to a segment comparing the rights of illegal immigrants to those of unborn children.
It's true, too, that the network has dedicated significant coverage to Representative Ocasio-Cortez, the self-described "democratic socialist" whose landmark election win made her the youngest woman to serve in Congress and unseated Joe Crowley, a longtime Democratic incumbent. Their coverage of her is so extensive, in fact, that it prompted CNN to declare that "Fox News has found a new 'villain' in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez" in an op-ed dated November 25, 2018.
The network's record of climate change denial has also been well documented. "Fox and Friends" host Brian Kilmeade referred to man-made climate change as "a point of view" in October 2018 in just one of many instances which have seen Fox News employees even humor the president's own claim that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.
Kalb wasn't the only one who took the opportunity to lampoon the network.
Fox News has confirmed Roger Stone will appear on Tucker Carlson's show tonight.
Stone was arrested this morning on charges that he obstructed an official proceeding, made false statements and engaged in witness tampering.
FBI agents arrested Stone before dawn today at his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. CNN was on the scene at the time of Stone’s arrest.
Stone was released on $250,000 bond. He denied any wrongdoing.
“I look forward to being fully and completely vindicated," he told a group of supporters who'd gathered outside a Florida courthouse.
Stone has been a member of Trump's inner circle for decades and even pushed him to run for office for many years. He worked on Trump’s failed bid with the Reform Party in 2000, and also worked on Trump’s campaign in 2015 before transitioning to a more informal role.
Stone has been described as the "key" to unlocking the maze of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference. It was Stone who helped Guccifer2.0 spread propaganda and misleading news stories to undermine the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Guccifer2.0 took credit for the infamous hacking of the Democratic National Committee systems, as well as accounts of other political party members and organizations.
U.S. intelligence officials believe Guccifer 2.0 is likely a Russian military agent or a persona that was used by many to broadcast information hacked by the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence organization. FBI agents were able to ascertain that the entity was an officer of Russian military intelligence, as The Daily Beast had previously reported.
Stone has continued to deny allegations of collusion with Russia
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads