Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Peters wants you to know just what went down at Fox News.
That's what he says in Fox and the Big Lie, a two-part docuseries from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The series tracks, at least in part, how former President Donald Trump and his administration laid the groundwork for their "Big Lie" the 2020 election was stolen.
Peters, who served as a military analyst for the network until he resigned in 2018, said prominent right-wing figures used bigotry and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric to reel in viewers for the network.
You can hear his remarks in the video below.
From the great Australian Broadcasting Company doc, \u201cFox and The Big Lie,\u201d former Fox military analyst says, \u201cThe Green Room started to be like the bar scene in the first Star Wars movie. These people are freaks. And then you realize, you\u2019re one of the freaks!\u201dpic.twitter.com/f9SsN2qt7n— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1630377261
Peters recalled the Green Room at the network was not unlike a scene from Star Wars: A New Hope.
""The green room over the last several years into the Trump administration, when I left, the guests got more and more bizarre, more distasteful."
"I mean, [the] Green Room started to be like the bar scene in the first Star Wars film."
"[You say,] 'these people are freaks.' Ah, and then you realize, you're one of the freaks!"
Asked to elaborate on what he meant by his use of the word "freaks," Peters described them as:
"People with no qualifications who could not even speak cogently who could only speak the lines they'd memorized praising Trump, as though he were a heathen God that had to be appeased with slavish rhetoric."
Peters later criticized conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
The Australian media mogul owns hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including Fox News.
"The United States of America gave Rupert Murdoch a great deal... he repaid it by doing a great deal of harm."
Peters' statements went viral, sparking widespread condemnation for Fox News.
This man...such picturesque speech. Was nice to hear and frightening. Murdoch, where do you belong on the whiteboard of diabolical Republican connections?https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1432532180144730120\u00a0\u2026— Laura L \u270d\ufe0f\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a (@Laura L \u270d\ufe0f\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a) 1630421651
The real @FoxNews exposed. They are not just silly they are dangerous propagandists. Applies to most of the current @SenateGOP and @HouseGOP as wellhttps://twitter.com/i/status/1432532180144730120\u00a0\u2026— Hal Donahue (@Hal Donahue) 1630408916
Can something be shocking and simultaneously unsurprising? https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1432532180144730120\u00a0\u2026— DynaMike DadBod (@DynaMike DadBod) 1630426269
Fox News: A wretched hive of scum and villainy.https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1432532180144730120\u00a0\u2026— julian **BLM** (@julian **BLM**) 1630430336
Perfect description from Ralph Peters. He came to his senses, but it took too long. Most of the "freaks" on FoxNews he talks about will never come to their senses.https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1432532180144730120\u00a0\u2026— Mr Naturally Progressive (@Mr Naturally Progressive) 1630422395
Exactly why FoxNews & it\u2019s worst offending hosts must be dismantled brick by brick to ground level until there\u2019s nothing left. What they\u2019re doing isn\u2019t opinion, entertainment, or free speech. They\u2019ve radicalized nearly half our citizens against truth, democracy, and for fascism.https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1432532180144730120\u00a0\u2026— \ud83d\ude37\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u02dc\u201d*\u00b0\u2022. Kato Justus\u2074 .\u2022\u00b0*\u201d\u02dc\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\ude37 (@\ud83d\ude37\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\u02dc\u201d*\u00b0\u2022. Kato Justus\u2074 .\u2022\u00b0*\u201d\u02dc\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\ude37) 1630413981
This is such an important snippet, Fox News would put on completely unqualified people as long as they followed the party line.https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1432532180144730120\u00a0\u2026— Philly Phinance (@Philly Phinance) 1630415118
The walls start to come down. Fox only cares about $. They don't care about Americans or the constitution; sell whatever keeps people tuned in is their mission statement.https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1432532180144730120\u00a0\u2026— \ud835\ude7e\ud835\ude95\ud835\ude8d \ud835\ude7c\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude97 \ud835\ude76\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude9b\ud835\udea2 (@\ud835\ude7e\ud835\ude95\ud835\ude8d \ud835\ude7c\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude97 \ud835\ude76\ud835\ude8a\ud835\ude9b\ud835\udea2) 1630440909
Peters was a regular analyst for Fox News for years, a tenure that was not without its controversies.
In 2013, Fox suspended him for two weeks after he criticized former President Barack Obama's foreign policy by calling him a "total pussy."
In 2017, he sparred with Fox personality Tucker Carlson after accusing him of defending Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Peters ultimately left Fox News in 2018.
In his resignation, he accused the network of "harming our system of government for profit" and serving as a "propaganda machine" for the Trump administration.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
Ronald Grump the Muppet in 1988; Joe Pesci as Ronald Grump in 1994; Donald Grump in 2005PBS
PBS
PBS
