The mainstream media have accused President Donald Trump of endangering journalists and press freedom by criticizing “fake news” — but were largely silent as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) launched an attack on Fox News on Tuesday.
Fox News did nothing to provoke the attack, other than inviting Warren to appear on a candidate town hall and to reach its audience of millions. Several other Democrats — and even socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — have done so.
But Warren turned down the offer, saying she did not want to help the network make money for “hate.” She went even further, using the Fox invitation as the pretext to launch an attack on the network across several social media platforms.
On Instagram, Warren posted a GIF calling Fox a “hate-for-profit … racket,” and added a statement: “I won’t do a town hall with Fox News because I won’t invite millions of Democratic primary voters to tune in, inflate ratings, and help sell ads for an outlet that profits from racism and hate. If you agree, sign our petition.”
The Instagram video featured Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Judge Jeanine Pirro, and Laura Ingraham.
On Twitter, Warren attacked Fox in a lengthy thread:
One journalist who offered a mild criticism was Yashar Ali of New York magazine, who pointed out — after prompting by “a rival campaign” to Warren’s — that she had appeared on Fox News last year:
Several Fox News hosts have been targeted by coordinated advertising boycotts, and Tucker Carlson’s home was vandalized by a left-wing Antifa (“anti-fascist”) mob last year.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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