Fox News Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Coverage of Russia investigation === {{Further|Mueller special counsel investigation}} On October 30, 2017, when special counsel [[Robert Mueller]] indicted [[Paul Manafort]] and [[Rick Gates (political consultant)|Rick Gates]], and revealed [[George Papadopoulos]] had pleaded guilty (all of whom were involved in the Trump 2016 campaign), this was the focus of most media's coverage, except Fox News'.<ref name="Rosenberg-2017">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/31/how-conservative-media-reacted-to-the-mueller-indictments/ |title='This is a nothing burger': How conservative media reacted to the Mueller indictments |last=Rosenberg |first=Eli |date=October 31, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 31, 2017 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102134139/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/31/how-conservative-media-reacted-to-the-mueller-indictments/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Hosts and guests on Fox News called for Mueller to be fired.<ref name="Rosenberg-2017"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/10/30/the-fox-news-cum-murdoch-effect-mueller-must-resign-or-be-fired/ |title=Opinion; The Fox News-Murdoch effect: Mueller must resign! Or be fired! |last=Wemple |first=Erik |date=October 30, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 31, 2017 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030001442/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2017/10/30/the-fox-news-cum-murdoch-effect-mueller-must-resign-or-be-fired/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson focused their shows on unsubstantiated allegations that Clinton sold uranium to Russia in exchange for donations to the Clinton Foundation and on the Clinton campaign's role in funding the [[Steele dossier]].<ref name="Rosenberg-2017"/><ref name="Kludt-2017">{{Cite news |url=https://money.cnn.com/2017/10/30/media/fox-news-paul-manafort/index.html |title=How Fox News is covering the toughest day of the Trump presidency |last=Kludt |first=Tom |date=October 30, 2017 |work=CNN Money |access-date=October 31, 2017 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112021409/https://money.cnn.com/2017/10/30/media/fox-news-paul-manafort/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Hannity asserted: "The very thing they are accusing President Trump of doing, they did it themselves."<ref name="Rosenberg-2017"/> During the segment, Hannity mistakenly referred to Clinton as President Clinton.<ref name="Rosenberg-2017"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://uk.businessinsider.com/sean-hannity-corey-lewandowski-trump-hillary-clinton-administration-2017-10 |title=Trump allies can't stop accidentally referring to Hillary Clinton's nonexistent administration |first=Maxwell |last=Tani |date=October 31, 2017 |work=Business Insider |access-date=October 31, 2017 |archive-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104164203/http://uk.businessinsider.com/sean-hannity-corey-lewandowski-trump-hillary-clinton-administration-2017-10 |url-status=live }}</ref> Fox News dedicated extensive coverage to the uranium story, which Democrats said was an attempt to distract from Mueller's intensifying investigation.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://uk.businessinsider.com/sean-hannity-twitter-robert-mueller-fox-news-2017-10 |title=Fox News host Sean Hannity has Twitter meltdown after report of Robert Mueller's first charges in the Russia probe |first=David |last=Choi |date=October 28, 2017 |work=Business Insider |access-date=October 31, 2017 |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806195027/https://www.businessinsider.com/sean-hannity-twitter-robert-mueller-fox-news-2017-10?r=UK |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/as-mueller-pushes-ahead-trump-distracts |title=As Mueller Pushes Ahead, Trump Distracts |last=Lizza |first=Ryan |date=October 28, 2017 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=October 31, 2017 |issn=0028-792X |archive-date=December 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230071804/https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/as-mueller-pushes-ahead-trump-distracts |url-status=live }}</ref> CNN described the coverage as "a tour de force in deflection and dismissal".<ref name="Kludt-2017"/> On October 31, CNN reported Fox News employees were dissatisfied with their outlet's coverage of the Russia investigation, with employees calling it an "embarrassment", "laughable", and saying it "does the viewer a huge disservice and further divides the country" and that it is "another blow to journalists at Fox who come in every day wanting to cover the news in a fair and objective way".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://amp.cnn.com/money/2017/10/31/media/fox-news-employees-russia-mueller-coverage/index.html |title='I want to quit': Fox News employees say their network's Russia coverage was 'an embarrassment' |first=Oliver |last=Darcy |date=October 31, 2017 |work=CNN Money |access-date=October 31, 2017 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030165652/https://money.cnn.com/2017/10/31/media/fox-news-employees-russia-mueller-coverage/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://uk.businessinsider.com/fox-news-employees-russia-mueller-coverage-2017-10 |title='I'm watching now and screaming': Fox News employees anonymously trash the network's Russia coverage |first=Maxwell |last=Tani |date=October 31, 2017 |work=Business Insider |access-date=October 31, 2017 |archive-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111031038/https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-employees-russia-mueller-coverage-2017-10?r=UK |url-status=live }}</ref> When the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into [[Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election]] intensified in October 2017, the focus of Fox News coverage turned "what they see as the scandal and wrongdoing of President Trump's political opponents. In reports like these, Bill and Hillary Clinton are prominent and recurring characters because they are considered the real conspirators working with the Russians to undermine American democracy."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/us/politics/conservative-media-trump-clintons.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/us/politics/conservative-media-trump-clintons.html |archive-date=January 2, 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |title=Alternative Narrative Emerges in Conservative Media as Russia Inquiry Widens |last=Peters |first=Jeremy W. |date=November 3, 2017 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=November 4, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Paul Waldman of ''The Washington Post'' described the coverage as "No puppet. You're the puppet", saying it was a "careful, coordinated, and comprehensive strategy" to distract from Mueller's investigation.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/10/27/the-gop-strategy-on-the-russia-scandal-no-puppet-youre-the-puppet/ |title=Opinion; The GOP strategy on the Russia scandal: 'No puppet. You're the puppet.' |first=Paul |last=Waldman |date=October 27, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 31, 2017 |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021010632/https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/10/27/the-gop-strategy-on-the-russia-scandal-no-puppet-youre-the-puppet/ |url-status=live }}</ref> German Lopes of ''[[Vox (website)|Vox]]'' said Fox News' coverage has reached "levels of self-parody" as it dedicated coverage to low-key stories, such as a controversial ''Newsweek'' op-ed and hamburger emojis, while other networks had wall-to-wall coverage of Mueller's indictments.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/30/16570198/trump-manafort-indictment-fox-news |title=Trump's former campaign head was indicted and Fox News talked about cheeseburger emojis |first=German |last=Lopez |date=October 30, 2017 |work=Vox |access-date=October 31, 2017 |archive-date=December 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225185609/https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/30/16570198/trump-manafort-indictment-fox-news |url-status=live }}</ref> A ''[[FiveThirtyEight]]'' analysis of Russia-related media coverage in cable news found most mentions of Russia on Fox News were spoken in close proximity to "uranium" and "dossier".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/all-the-cable-news-networks-are-covering-the-russia-story-just-not-the-same-one/ |title=All The Cable News Networks Are Covering The 'Russia Story'—Just Not The Same One |last=Mehta |first=Dhrumil |date=November 6, 2017 |work=FiveThirtyEight |access-date=November 7, 2017 |archive-date=December 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230104912/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/all-the-cable-news-networks-are-covering-the-russia-story-just-not-the-same-one/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On November 1, 2017, ''Vox'' analyzed the transcripts of Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, and found Fox News "was unable to talk about the Mueller investigation without bringing up Hillary Clinton", "talked significantly less about George Papadopoulos—the Trump campaign adviser whose plea deal with Mueller provides the most explicit evidence thus far that the campaign knew of the Russian government's efforts to help Trump—than its competitors", and "repeatedly called Mueller's credibility into question".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/2017/10/31/16571350/fox-news-mueller-credibility |title=A week of Fox News transcripts shows how they began questioning Mueller's credibility |first=Alvin |last=Chang |date=October 31, 2017 |work=Vox |access-date=November 1, 2017 |archive-date=December 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225185613/https://www.vox.com/2017/10/31/16571350/fox-news-mueller-credibility |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2017, Fox News escalated its attacks on the Mueller investigation, with hosts and guest commentators suggesting the investigation amounted to a [[coup]].<ref name="Vernon-2017">{{Cite news |url=https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/fox-news-meuller-trump.php |title=The media today: Fox News's intensifying anti-Mueller rhetoric raises concerns |first=Pete |last=Vernon |date=December 18, 2017 |work=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] |access-date=December 18, 2017 |archive-date=December 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201229225926/https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/fox-news-meuller-trump.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Schmidt-2017">{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/18/a-coup-in-america-fox-news-escalates-anti-mueller-rhetoric/ |title=A 'coup in America?' Fox News escalates anti-Mueller rhetoric |last=Schmidt |first=Samantha |date=December 18, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 18, 2017 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=November 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129232846/https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?next_url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/18/a-coup-in-america-fox-news-escalates-anti-mueller-rhetoric/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/365331-fox-news-faces-backlash-saying-the-us-may-be-facing-a-coup-with-mueller/ |title=Fox News host called 'irresponsible' after suggesting US facing a 'coup' from Mueller |last=Beavers |first=Olivia |date=December 17, 2017 |newspaper=The Hill |access-date=December 18, 2017 |archive-date=December 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230040332/https://thehill.com/homenews/media/365331-fox-news-faces-backlash-saying-the-us-may-be-facing-a-coup-with-mueller |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/jesse-watters-says-we-may-have-a-coup-on-our-hands.html |title=Jesse Watters Says We May 'Have a Coup on Our Hands in America' |last=Hart |first=Benjamin |date=December 17, 2017 |work=[[Daily Intelligencer (blog)|Daily Intelligencer]] |access-date=December 18, 2017 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109042537/http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/12/jesse-watters-says-we-may-have-a-coup-on-our-hands.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/12/18/trump-gets-conflicting-advice-about-firing-mueller-from-sean-hannity-and-fox-friends/ |title=Analysis: Trump gets conflicting advice about firing Mueller from Sean Hannity and ''Fox & Friends'' |last=Borchers |first=Callum |date=December 18, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=December 18, 2017 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=December 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230082157/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/12/18/trump-gets-conflicting-advice-about-firing-mueller-from-sean-hannity-and-fox-friends/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Guest co-host Kevin Jackson referred to a right-wing conspiracy theory claiming Strzok's messages are evidence of a plot by FBI agents to assassinate Trump, a claim which the other Fox co-hosts quickly said is not supported by any credible evidence.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/media/365639-fox-news-guest-floats-fbi-assassination-plot-against-trump/ |title=Fox guest floats possibility of FBI assassination plot against Trump |last=Bowden |first=John |date=December 19, 2017 |newspaper=The Hill |access-date=December 19, 2017 |archive-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214053249/https://thehill.com/homenews/media/365639-fox-news-guest-floats-fbi-assassination-plot-against-trump |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/20/fox-news-contributor-channeling-alex-jones-suggests-fbi-plot-to-assassinate-trump/ |title=Fox News contributor, channeling Alex Jones, suggests FBI plot to assassinate Trump |first=Kyle |last=Swenson |date=December 20, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-date=December 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230081536/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/20/fox-news-contributor-channeling-alex-jones-suggests-fbi-plot-to-assassinate-trump/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Fox News host Jeanine Pirro called the Mueller investigation team a "criminal cabal" and said the team ought to be arrested.<ref name="Vernon-2017"/> Other Fox News figures referred to the investigation as "corrupt", "crooked", and "illegitimate", and likened the FBI to the KGB, the Soviet-era spy organization that routinely tortured and summarily executed people.<ref name="Schmidt-2017"/> Political scientists and scholars of coups described the Fox News rhetoric as scary and dangerous.<ref name="Schmidt-2017"/> Experts on coups rejected that the Mueller investigation amounted to a coup; rather, the Fox News rhetoric was dangerous to democracy and mirrored the kind of rhetoric that occurs before [[purge]]s.<ref name="Schmidt-2017"/> A number of observers argued the Fox News rhetoric was intended to discredit the Mueller investigation and sway President Donald Trump to fire Mueller.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/146325/trump-sabotaging-russia-investigationwith-fox-news-help |title=Trump Is Sabotaging the Russia Investigation—With Fox News' Help |first=Jeet |last=Heer |date=December 18, 2017 |magazine=[[The New Republic]] |access-date=December 18, 2017 |archive-date=December 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205005201/https://newrepublic.com/article/146325/trump-sabotaging-russia-investigationwith-fox-news-help |url-status=live }}</ref> In August 2018, Fox News was criticized for giving more prominent coverage of a murder committed by an undocumented immigrant than the convictions of Donald Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and his long-term personal attorney, [[Michael Cohen (lawyer)|Michael Cohen]].<ref name="Relman-2018">{{Cite news |url=http://uk.businessinsider.com/fox-news-slammed-for-covering-mollie-tibbetts-over-manafort-cohen-convictions-2018-8 |title=Fox News slammed for covering the killing of a college student more prominently than the convictions of 2 top Trump aides |first=Eliza |last=Relman |date=August 21, 2018 |work=Business Insider |access-date=September 20, 2018 |archive-date=January 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111172521/http://uk.businessinsider.com/fox-news-slammed-for-covering-mollie-tibbetts-over-manafort-cohen-convictions-2018-8 |url-status=live }}</ref> At the same time, most other national mainstream media gave wall-to-wall coverage of the convictions.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thewrap.com/fox-news-slammed-over-thin-cohen-manafort-coverage/ |title=Fox News Slammed for Covering Tooth Fairy Over Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen Convictions |first=Jon |last=Levine |date=August 22, 2018 |work=TheWrap |access-date=September 20, 2018 |archive-date=January 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109202941/https://www.thewrap.com/fox-news-slammed-over-thin-cohen-manafort-coverage/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Fox News hosts Dana Perrino and Jason Chaffetz argued that voters care far more about the murder than the convictions of the President's former top aides, and hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity downplayed the convictions.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/08/21/tibbetts-murder-resonates-not-manafort-cohen-chaffetz-says/1059394002/ |title=Fox News host says Manafort and Cohen crimes can't sway votes like Tibbetts murder |first=William |last=Cummings |date=August 22, 2018 |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=September 20, 2021 |archive-date=January 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110082159/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/08/21/tibbetts-murder-resonates-not-manafort-cohen-chaffetz-says/1059394002/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Relman-2018"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-hosts-wave-off-cohen-plea-deal-as-nothing-that-matters |title=Fox News Hosts Wave Off Cohen Plea as 'Nothing That Matters' |last=Tani |first=Maxwell |date=August 22, 2018 |work=The Daily Beast |access-date=September 20, 2018 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109041444/https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-hosts-wave-off-cohen-plea-deal-as-nothing-that-matters |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page