On Tuesday's CNN Tonight, CNN chief media correpondent Brian Stelter claimed that President Donald Trump has the benefit of getting "24/7 propaganda" from Fox News Channel which past Presidents like Barack Obama allegedly did not have as the group discussed Trump's tendency to give more interviews to Fox than to other news outlets.
At one point in the discussion, as former Fox News host Eric Bolling praised Trump's handling of the economy and asserted that the President has improved the respect the U.S. gets from other countries, Stelter cracked: "We all know that's a bunch of bull. We know those are talking points. People see through them, Eric." A bit later, he added: "You don't have to read those lines anymore. You're not at Fox anymore, Eric."
A bit later, the group began discussing Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen's recent contention that President Trump has turned out to be an unusually honest President because he has kept so many of his campaign promises, leading CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley to respond: "Well, you know, that's a lot of bunk. We all know Donald Trump lies regularly. He systematically lies from morning till night."
Brinkley then shifted to discussing Trump's relationship with Fox News, calling it the President's "megaphone," leading Stelter to inject:
I think what's unique is the 24/7 propaganda aspect of it. And, yes, you're right. There are certain hosts on Fox that don't toe the line, but so many of them do with pro-Trump talk shows -- either supporting the President's agenda or just avoiding the bad news about him.
As if CNN and especially MSNBC haven't done plenty to bolster Democrats while hyping liberal attacks on conservatives, he continued:
One of the most powerful effects of Fox is the earmuffs -- pretending bad news isn't there, ignoring all the lies and scandals and just talking about the evil Democrats instead. That repetition is incredibly powerful, and I don't think Obama or Bush or Clinton or anybody had that kind of constant reinforcement. It makes you wonder what would President Trump do if he didn't have those defenders on Fox all the time.
Speaking of media outlets acting as partisan propaganda conduits, it was just a couple of days ago that CNN's flagship morning news show, New Day, used its regular "Reality Check" segment to present misinformation from liberals as fact to bolster the Democratic party's message that voting rights are "under siege" from Republicans.
