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MSNBC news anchor Brian Williams delivered a sobering call-out to Fox News on his show The 11th Hour Monday night. He featured a bracing ad about the January 6 coup attempt at the Capitol.
The Rupert Murdoch owned conservative media presence refused to air the ad on their network.
Created by political action committee (PAC) MeidasTouch, the ad features news footage of the insurrection and first-person accounts from that day. After Fox News rejected it, MeidasTouch tweeted the video, asking followers to make it go viral on the platform.
Williams decided to do them one better by showing it live on national television.
He called out Fox News' integrity in the process while saying barely a word about the network.
Thank you Brian Williams for sharing our ad that Fox \u201cNews\u201d doesn\u2019t want their viewers to seepic.twitter.com/VIgDC0rdod— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1623126057
Before airing the ad, Williams directed his viewers to ask themselves two simple questions that cleverly and subtly laid bare Fox News's notorious commitment to bias and dishonesty.
"While you watch, ask yourself what isn't factual about it, which people in it aren't real."
"It's about the attempt to overturn our election, the insurrection of 1/6, and the story is told by those in the fight."
What followed was a shocking reminder of that January day, told by one of Fox News' purported favorite demographics—law enforcement officers—who described in disturbing detail the attacks they underwent while doing their jobs.
One officer described the chemical burns she received on her face while another described the violence of the Capitol rioters as "the most brutal, savage hand-to-hand combat of my entire life."
In a voiceover, another confessed how traumatic it has been to watch Republican officials "white wash" what happened to law enforcement during the riot, including describing the violent insurrection as a "normal tourist visit."
In a tweet posted over the weekend, MeidasTouch explained it had purchased nearly $185,000 in ad time on the network for the video.
We made a $184,854 TV buy with this ad on Fox News this week. Fox News just denied airing our ad. Retweet and get it out in every corner of the country.pic.twitter.com/EBz1G2paLv— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch.com) 1622992551
The Los Angeles Timesreported that ad buy, from June 6 to June 15, would have included seven days of airtime on the network's popular morning show Fox and Friends. But MeidasTouch was informed Friday June 4 by the network it was refusing to run the ad.
Rejecting an ad composed of nothing but news footage and first-person law enforcement accounts is an interesting choice for a network that once called itself "fair and balanced."
And on Twitter, people applauded both Williams and MeidasTouch for calling out Fox News.
Thank you .@11thHour Brian Williams for sharing the video that Fox News refused to show. \n\n#GOPBetrayedAmericahttps://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1402118426307350528\u00a0\u2026— victorhugo (@victorhugo) 1623134012
Thank you Brian Williams (@BWilliams , @11thHour ) for sharing truth!!!! pic.twitter.com/szRdTvrxrK— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8Meidas \ud835\udcda\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcee\ud835\udcfc\ud835\udcf1\ud835\udcea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8Meidas \ud835\udcda\ud835\udcf2\ud835\udcee\ud835\udcfc\ud835\udcf1\ud835\udcea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1623126498
This is so powerful.https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1402118426307350528\u00a0\u2026— Victoria Brownworth (@Victoria Brownworth) 1623148954
Hats of to @MSNBC and @BWilliams for having the courage and decency to show what people over at @FoxNews don\u2019t want people to see, the truth about Jan 6th. It\u2019s great saved 185,000 and @MeidasTouch gets free publicity. Win win for the Democrats!— Susie Q (@Susie Q) 1623127974
Take time to watch this. It is the new Never Forget.https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1402118426307350528\u00a0\u2026— Gavin O'Hara (@Gavin O'Hara) 1623167947
\u201cIt was the most brutal\u2014savage\u2014hand-to-hand combat of my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have chemical burns on my face that still haven\u2019t healed.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey were swinging metal poles\u2014spraying bear mace & pepper spray.\u201d\n\nThe ad @FoxNews was too afraid to air.#GOPBetrayedAmericapic.twitter.com/dev8Dd5veB— Dean Wallace \ud83d\uddf3\ud83d\uddfd (@Dean Wallace \ud83d\uddf3\ud83d\uddfd) 1623213879
So damn angry, but I\u2019m also so damn proud of @MeidasTouch\u2019s video on the Jan 6th insurrection testimonials that Fox News *censored*. Thx @MSNBC @11thHour for airing it. Couldn\u2019t be prouder to been MT\u2019s founding advisor.\n\nHT @meiselasb @BMeiselas @J_Mei21pic.twitter.com/QsugfRGgEz— Eric Feigl-Ding (@Eric Feigl-Ding) 1623185876
Why is @foxnews why are you silencing this free market advertisement and the voices of law enforcement? Please watch this and make sure that FOX does not get away with this.https://twitter.com/MeidasTouch/status/1401558459955388419\u00a0\u2026— Fred Guttenberg (@Fred Guttenberg) 1623149494
Which is more powerful? \nThis ad or the fact that @FoxNews refuses to put it on the air? \nThank you @BWilliams and @MeidasTouchpic.twitter.com/yQBlLSlGlO— Claire McCaskill (@Claire McCaskill) 1623155522
Good for Brian Williams for airing your ad... I caught it last night on the 11th Hour. And I've retweeted it twice here. I look forward to seeing your powerful ad air more and more...as well as online. Thank you for your hard work and dedication in the fight for our democracy.— Lisa Simpson (@Lisa Simpson) 1623151562
MeidasTouch told The Los Angeles Times this is the first time Fox News has ever rejected one of their ads outright without requesting edits.