From the rise of Fox News came the building support of conservative policies and racist rhetoric, which led to the election of Donald Trump. Now that measurable and impactful consequences of this have become undeniable, it appears that 21st Century Fox, who produces both Fox News as well as Fox Business, is being forced to scale back at least some of its more obviously racist statements.
Very funny, @FoxNews. Now ban @LouDobbs, @IngrahamAngle, @seanhannity, @TuckerCarlson and the rest of your toxic, hate-mongering sophists. https://t.co/Eq3ibybW6H
— Kim Masters (@kimmasters) October 28, 2018
Even after billionaire businessman and liberal donor George Soros was sent a pipe bomb in the mail by a Trump supporter, Fox Business aired a repeat episode of Lou Dobbs Tonight in which guest Chris Farrell of Judicial Watch pushed the conspiracy theory that Soros had infiltrated the State Department in order to fund a migrant caravan headed to the United States.
Fox Business's Lou Dobbs said the pipe bombs this week were fake. He's called George Soros an "evil SOB" and had a guy on this week who ranted about the "Soros-occupied State Department." Dobbs is clinical–needs a padded cell, not a platform for his deranged propaganda. pic.twitter.com/ETnYLC4Ceg
— Ben W Dickinson (@BenWDickinson) October 28, 2018
Variety reports that:
‘An executive from Fox Business Network said the cable outlet would pull from rotation a recent broadcast of “Lou Dobbs Tonight” featuring a guest making remarks about a “Soros-occupied State Department” that has spurred social-media pushback in the wake of Saturday’s shooting tragedy at a Pittsburgh synagogue.’
The episode aired on Thursday night but was reaired on Saturday following the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Soros, a Jewish man, was accused during the program of trying to institute a “Soros occupied government” in the United States. The acronym “ZOG” (Zionist occupied government) is a common neo-Nazi term describing the white, Christian fear of a takeover of the world by Jewish people.
Farrell has also been banned as a guest on Fox programs.
Fox News bans guest for George Soros comments on 'Lou Dobbs Tonight' https://t.co/XuOD5p8oAw pic.twitter.com/nGQQJUSdvP
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) October 28, 2018
While the episode will no longer be allowed in the rotation of reruns, it isn’t because of any personal responsibility that Fox is taking for their contribution to the rise in racism and anti-Jewish sentiment.
‘Producers and anchors at the two cable networks that make up the Fox News unit at 21st Century Fox have been under orders to be mindful of “protecting the talent, protecting the brand,”since June of 2018. At the time, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott urged employees to clamp down on remarks and rhetoric that undermined the programming. Fox News has at times featured guests and hosts dismissing an account of a girl with Down’s Syndrome; taking aim at one of the high school students involved in the shooting tragedy in Parkland, Florida; and telling an African-American Democratic strategist that he was “out of his cotton-picking mind.”’
See the full segment from Lou Dobbs Tonight below:
