Podcast # 210 - Fox News is the Defiant Parent in the Principal's Office

At this point in the second Trump administration Fox News has become the parent of a spoiled child sitting in the principal’s office of an expensive private school insisting their kid did absolutely nothing wrong.The defiant parent stares back in scorn at an underpaid and overworked school administrator explaining. while sipping instant Maxwell House from a Styrofoam cup, how little Donny set fire to another teacher’s desk then faked an asthma attack to get out of detention. At the emergency room he threatened to fight the triage nurse after she determined his breathing was perfectly normal.President Donald J. Trump is the bratty monster who was never told no or given a boundary. As prices increase across the country and his poll numbers drop Fox News cannot face reality - the network helped raise this destructive beast.The pathological narcissist that they propped up and worshipped, and paid hundreds of millions in a defamation lawsuit to cover for has turned out to be a mad wannabe king hellbent on enriching himself and sticking his name and image on everything near him.As the president repeatedly makes false claims about the war with Iran the network dutifully repeats them only to correct itself hours later. The corporate heads as Fox News don’t seem to care as long as their ratings remain high and the profits keep rolling in.Little Donny might even burn his family’s McMansion to the ground before he’s finished. Hopefully we won’t all be burned to cinders along with him.Rupert Murdoch must be happy to have a lower tax rate.Last week the network also heavily promoted stories surrounding the criminal indictment issued against the SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center). While the PBS News Hour dedicated slightly over one minute to the story it was the third most talked about topic on Fox News last week taking up 11% of the airtime on the shows I covered. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Since President Trump decided to attack Iran Fox News has become a buffoonish propagandist for a half-baked military fiasco. Instead of acknowledging that the president is not a trustworthy source of information the network repeats his delusions as if they were Gospel truths.As Trump manipulates the financial markets and lies about phantom agreements with the Iranian regime Fox News folds and twists itself into complex knots of fabricated nonsense to justify the incredibly unpopular conflict in the Middle East.The man cost the network $787.5 million in a defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems after Fox News knowingly promoted false stories about the 2020 election. Despite the enormous payout it is still profitable to follow the mad king off a cliff.Everything Trump says is taken on good faith. Every public relations fiasco he makes is embraced and celebrated.If Trump attacks, the head of a church that includes at least one in five Americans, Fox will champion the president’s blunder. When the President seemingly invents peace agreements from thin air Fox News never questions it.The corporate leadership at Fox News knows its job - back the president no matter what he says or does until the network starts losing money. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News returned to its schizophrenic confused coverage of the war in Iran. In the mornings on Fox & Friends the conflict was depicted as a chaotic mess between a stubborn Iranian regime that refused to give an inch and Trump the misunderstood magical deal maker. The morning crew promised its viewers that although the war was a fiasco military success and lower gas prices were just round the corner.On Jesse Watters Primetime the Iranian regime was defeated and the war was already over. Trump had accomplished what no other American leader had done before - created peace in the Middle East by destroying the number one sponsor of terror.To many outside of the Fox News MAGA cult it seemed Trump brokered a brief ceasefire with Iran because he had absolutely no idea what to do next.Fox News, his personal propaganda machine, acknowledged but downplayed the fact that the two-week ceasefire included a 10-point plan that basically gave Iran everything it wanted including enriched uranium.The network also admitted openly that the Strait of Hormuz was essentially still closed, Israel continued to pummel targets in Lebanon and the Iranian people had not risen up and toppled their brutal theocratic government.Everything was terrible but the Murdoch owned media empire was determined to make it look like an amazing victory for its glorious leader.While Fox News put all of its focus on Trump’s possible strategy for ending the war in Iran the PBS News Hour included segments about:* Problems for farmers - fertilizer prices increase due to the war* How the war affected Muslim, Jewish and Christian holidays in the Middle East* Israeli strikes in Lebanon - the effect on civilians* U.S. service members with traumatic brain injuries* How the war is increasing inflation in the U.S. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week when Fox viewers turned on their favorite propaganda machine, they entered a magical world of delusion where Trump was still incredibly popular, the war in Iran was going smoothly and things looked rosy for Republicans in the midterm elections.The network downplayed the massive ‘No Kings’ protests that were organized all over the country reducing the demonstrations to a bunch of old people who were paid agitators wasting their time.Polls had no meaning on Fox. Even the network’s own Fox News poll showed Trump’s approval ratings plummeting on every aspect of his presidency. It even showed he is starting to lose support among Republicans.The skyrocketing cost gasoline, diesel and fertilizer caused by the war in Iran weren’t even mentioned. The network chose to focus on radical Democrats and the partial government shutdown.For this newsletter I’m just going to breakdown the entire mess into a series of delusions. Buckle up and enter the land of Republican make believe. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News decided everything was more important than the war between Israel, the United States and Iran. Although the conflict was still the top topic for the week most of the segments dedicated to it included retired military leaders pontificating on possible next moves for the commander-in-chief.While the PBS News Hour showed massive damage to residential buildings and energy infrastructure in Lebanon, Israel and other countries in the Middle East, Fox News featured war correspondents talking into cameras.Anyone watching Fox News would have no idea that civilian targets in Israel, Iran and Lebanon were hit. The violence in Iran was reduced to the same recycled aerial shots from the start of the conflict.The folks at Fox News appeared delighted that Trump decided to “take a break” from a war he seemed to start on a whim. None of us can truly know Trump’s motives for launching the conflict but suddenly the media stopped talking about the ever-worsening scandals surrounding the president and the Epstein files.While Trump’s poll numbers plummeted and gasoline prices skyrocketed Fox News was so desperate for distracting content it manufactured a fake outrage campaign against the actress Sydney Sweeney.Fox News claimed progressives were enraged that Sweeney sent well wishes on social media to her brother in the Air Force along with all troops stationed overseas. Any backlash she did receive didn’t amount to much except for a reason for Fox News to feature scantily clad photos of her.Most of the negative comments I could find online about Sweeney’s post were directed at President Trump or Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu not the actress.The network also hyped-up various crimes committed by undocumented immigrants while Sean Hannity trashed a YouTube children’s performer and complained about the horrors of spring break.Another major topic was the government shutdown over DHS funding which Fox presented as a major fiasco caused by Democratic lawmakers even though Republicans control both houses in congress and the White House.In a sign of true desperation the network featured an extended phone interview with the president on its number one rated show – The Five. In a scene out of a dystopian novel Trump face’s was plastered on a giant screen near the back of the studio as the hosts spoke to a disembodied voice. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Much like the seams in any suit jacket worn by the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Fox News is barely keeping it together. The network still can’t get its message straight regarding Trump’s disastrous war in Iran.Fox is following the lead of its glorious leader, a man who appeared to act impulsively, when he decided to attack a country of 92 million people with one of the largest militaries in the Middle East.Trump is highly skilled at selling himself, at least to his cultish base of followers, as a powerful leader who can change the world through his force of will. He is a bumbling fool when it comes to getting Americans excited about his flights of fancy - conquering Greenland, seizing the Panama Canal, managing Venezuela, crushing Cuba and destroying the government of Iran.Trump has also failed to excited the masses about some of his economic policies such as broad sweeping tariffs on imports or the acquisition of Venezuelan oil which the president called ‘garbage tar’ when he was on the campaign trail.Trump makes no real attempt to sell the need for military conflict to the American public. The average American couldn’t identify Nicolás Maduro, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Ali Khamenei the deceased Iranian supreme leader or his son Mojtaba Khamenei in a line up.In comparison former president George W. Bush and his administration pitched the Iraq War for nearly a year and a half before the first shots were fired.Saddam Hussein and his sons Uday and Qusay became household names. Their excessive lifestyle and corruption along with their many crimes against humanity and the people of Iran were drilled into the minds of farmers, teachers and factory workers across the country.Bush was also exploiting a grief-stricken country as he falsely connected the horrific terrorist attack on 9/11 to Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.Trump isn’t helping solidify support for his poorly planned war against Iran as he plays golf on the weekends, holds press conferences with his fawning cabinet members, and accepts meaningless awards meant to stroke his ego.Many Americans view Trump as a puppet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has longed to attack Iran for decades. The war is already unpopular and will only get more despised if Trump doesn’t change the perception that he is fighting on behalf of a foreign government’s interest.Fox News doesn’t know which way is up. Grainy aerial shots of trucks and buildings being obliterated aren’t exactly heroic. There are no clear goals or milestones and seemingly no exit strategy to Trump’s latest wild endeavor. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Fox News twisted itself into knots to convince its audience that a misguided and poorly planned war in the Middle East was a brilliant idea after its glorious leader promised - no new wars.To accomplish the impossible the network’s hosts weaved intricate tapestries of lies filled with invented histories of domestic oil production, gas prices, Trump’s previous attacks on Iran, fairy tales of enriched uranium and a revolution that could start at any moment.Less than a year ago Fox News celebrated the success of Operation Midnight Hammer a military strike that was supposed to obliterate Iran’s ability to create a nuclear weapon.Then with very little warning Trump started a war with Iran under the guise that the regime was about to attack the United States or Israel with the same nuclear weapons he claimed to have wiped off the face of the planet.The zombie nuclear program seems to exist only in Trump’s mind and Fox News is happy to dutifully go along with his delusion. It’s getting more difficult with each passing day for the network to pull this off.Instead of the usual segments meant to keep Fox viewers terrified of undocumented immigrants, woke blue-haired liberals, transgender folks and urban crime the network has gone headfirst into a fabricated reality based on hunches, feelings and the dreams of a deranged narcissist with imperialist fantasies in the throes of dementia. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week on Fox overpaid television personalities tried to fake their way through a war they didn’t understand. As the president changed the reasons he started the military conflict with Iran the folks at Fox struggled to forge a coherent message about it.The propaganda machine sputtered and stumbled. The network kept repeating Trump’s mixed messages:* The war was already over/The war will be over soon/This isn’t a war* High gas prices are a small price to pay for freedom/Gas prices will drop immediately/Americans don’t care about high gas prices* There will be no ground invasion of U.S. troops/There might be a short ground invasion of U.S. troops* We’ve killed their leadership/The new leadership is worse than the old leadership* Trump is the peace president/Trump has started military conflicts with seven different countries* This war will bring long-term peace/Every problem in the world is caused by Iran* Russia is helping Iran/Russia is not a concern/This war is about China* The U.S. is NOT fighting Iran for Israel/Sean Hannity featured a 21 minute interview with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi NetanyahuWhen Fox News hosts weren’t talking out of both sides of their mouths, they were promoting Trump’s lies.* Americans overwhelmingly approve of Trump’s decision to attack Iran - several polls say otherwise* Iran was capable of a nuclear attack on the U.S. or Israel - despite no evidence supporting this* The people of Iran will rise up and take over their government - so far no such movement has formed. It could be because people don’t want to stage a revolution while being attacked by the U.S. and Israel* Trump’s promises of ‘no new wars’ did not mean he’s an isolationistIn the four years I’ve covered Fox News the past week is the weakest I’ve ever seen the network. Instead of a streamlined well thought out strategy to promote the war the network’s messaging is a sloppy mess full of contradictions. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you Caroline Henry, Harshi Peiris, Ph.D., Kiwi Rebel, CO, eric, and many others for tuning into my live video with Charlie Sykes and Jim Acosta! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News tried to do three things - venerate the president, trash Democrats and convince its viewers that the Epstein files were somehow all about the network’s favorite arch nemesis Hillary Clinton. By the end of the week Fox got slammed by a news story it couldn’t ignore - the U.S. military attack on Iran.Before Donald J. Trump made the wildly risky move to attack Iran he had hit a bit of a rough patch. An investigation by NPR and other outlets found evidence that the DOJ had withheld interviews by a woman who accused President Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor.Fox News completely ignored this bombshell and tried to hype up Bill and Hillary Clinton’s testimony about their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.Hillary and Bill Clinton’s testimony about the Epstein files proved to be another nothing burger for the propaganda network. The Clintons did not revealed any new information that could link them to a crime or any wrongdoing.Trump’s incredibly long State of the Union address was so dull and lackluster his personal propaganda network (Fox News) spent most of its airtime after the speech attacking Democrats rather than praising Trump.Recent polls have shown any gains Trump made with Hispanic and Black voters have completely evaporated while independent, young and some lower income voters have also soured on the president.Democrats continue to outperform in local and state races while grocery prices remain stubbornly high. Since Friday the network has enthusiastically beaten the drums of war in a conflict few Americans wanted. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe