Is there anything stranger than crusading leftists on CNN and MSNBC blaming Fox News for dividing Americans? Soon after CNN anchor Abby Phillip attacked Fox News for "outrage porn," MSNBC's The Sunday Show offered ex-CNNer Brian Stelter blaming Rupert Murdoch for dividing America, pitting neighbor against neighbor.
Name-dropping the title of his new anti-Fox book, Stelter excoriated the outlet as a "Network of Lies" and laughably claimed that Fox, unlike the pro-Biden media, is "not rooted in reality."
The segment was remarkable, coming on the same fulminating cable network that has a substantial history of trafficking in vitriol against conservative public figures, even in this segment. Host Jonathan Capehart recalled congressional Republicans who are resisting a budget deal as he segued to the issue of Fox's future:
But if you zoom out, you can see the real roots of Republican craziness. One of the key factors, media mogul and architect of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, who announced he is stepping down as chairman this week. As a column in The New York Times noted, Rupert Murdoch's empire used passion and grievance as fuel and turned it into money and power.
There's no "passion and grievance" in MSNBC and in Capehart's performance? Capehart went to Stelter for commentary on Murdoch's "legacy," leading the former CNN host to tear into the right-leaning media mogul:
STELTER: Look, in a word -- one word -- the legacy is division. This is a much more divided country because of what Rupert Murdoch created with Fox News more than a quarter century ago. There was right-wing talk radio before -- there were pamphlets -- but he supercharged this far-right ecosystem -- really a "network of lies" if I can use the name of my forthcoming book -- in order to create an alternative that is not rooted in reality -- rooted in reality the way the rest of the American media is -- but instead rooted in a fantasy dragging America back to the past. That was and is Rupert Murdoch's legacy.
Former CNN contributor Tara Setmayer -- who currently advises the scandal-tainted Lincoln Project and frequently appears on MSNBC -- accused congressional Republicans of being "political pyromaniacs" because of constant encouragement from Fox. She ignored the many Democrats who have left politics and gone to MSNBC or CNN as she called out Republican pols for finding employment at Fox. Murdoch has created a "merry band of chaos carnival clowns....auditioning for Fox News."
She added: "This is not what the House of Representatives is supposed to be. It's not supposed to be an auditioning platform for Fox News, but that's what it's become because it's not about governing anymore. They are political pyromaniacs..."
And, as she blamed Fox for letting Donald Trump promote the birther theory against President Barack Obama in 2011, she did not mention that several Fox anchors spent significant time disputing his views on the subject.
After Setmayer concluded by calling Murdoch "one of the most dangerous immigrants to ever come to this country," Capehart approvingly responded: "Phew! I wish I had enough time, Tara, to repeat back to you some of the powerful one-liners you had there, but we are completely out of time."
Ignored was the history of liberal cable news hitting conservatives with incendiary, divisive vitriol, particularly by former MSNBC hosts Martin Bashir, Ed Schultz and Keith Olbermann. Setmayer's former Lincoln Project colleague Rick Wilson has notably served up a substantial amount of vitriol on CNN and MSNBC, and both networks have a history of peddling racially tinged rhetoric both against black conservatives and against whites.
This episode of The Sunday Show was sponsored in part by Subaru and Charmin. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's The Sunday Show
September 24, 2023
8:38 a.m. Eastern
JONATHAN CAPEHART: But if you zoom out, you can see the real roots of Republican craziness. One of the key factors, media mogul and architect of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, who announced he is stepping down as chairman this week. As a column in The New York Times noted, Rupert Murdoch's empire used passion and grievance as fuel and turned it into money and power. ... Brian, you are the expert on Fox News. Talk a little bit about the legacy of Rupert Murdoch and the influence his empire of conservative news has had on today's Republican party.
BRIAN STELTER, VANITY FAIR: Look, in a word -- one word -- the legacy is division. This is a much more divided country because of what Rupert Murdoch created with Fox News more than a quarter century ago. There was right-wing talk radio before -- there were pamphlets -- but he supercharged this far-right ecosystem -- really a "network of lies" if I can use the name of my forthcoming book -- in order to create an alternative that is not rooted in reality -- rooted in reality the way the rest of the American media is -- but instead rooted in a fantasy dragging America back to the past. That was and is Rupert Murdoch's legacy. And yet he's a diminished figure now. I've been talking with Murdoch-world sources again this weekend trying to figure out, "Why did he do this now? Why did he announce his retirement this week?"
And right now there does not seem to be an imminent health crisis -- although he's 92 years old, so you have to wonder about his health. It does seem to be that he is trying to show that his son Lachlan is the chosen son. He doesn't want a takeover -- some sort of an attempt at a takeover of his companies. He wants his son Lachlan in charge. So he's trying to hand power over. We'll see if it works. But I think we have to look back and say, you know, what he did to the country has caused profound polarization division. And I sometimes think about it as the neighborly thing, right, Jonathan? Harder to speak to your neighbors. That's Rupert's legacy.
(...)
CAPEHART: And, you now, Tara, one of the big impacts of Fox News is taking that passion from the audience that then bubbled up into people running for office, which then had them being elected to office, which has led them -- led us to the point now where a week from today, we could be in day one of a government shutdown where we have people who aren't interested in governing -- they're interested in doing something else. I want to replay the comments from Congressman Garret Graves from Louisiana talking about people within his own Republican conference and what they're doing in terms of keeping a budget deal from getting done. Watch this (CONGRESSMAN GARRET GRAVES (R-LA)) I mean, Tara, that right there is the legacy of Fox News.
TARA SETMAYER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT: Yeah, 100 percent. I mean, you know, a lot of these Republicans who've been elected now who are part of this merry band of chaos carnival clowns that are in Congress led by Matt Gaetz and (Lauren) Boebert and others -- they're auditioning for Fox News contracts. How many of them have gone into Congress, served one or two terms, and then they go and they become hosts on Fox News? I mean, this is not what the House of Representatives is supposed to be. It's not supposed to be an auditioning platform for Fox News, but that's what it's become because it's not about governing anymore.
They are political pyromaniacs, and you have Kevin McCarthy who is out here as an impotent Speaker who has -- who seems to be a political sadomasochist because he continues to try to engage these people and bring them together and do something when they're not interested in doing it, and he still takes the humiliation. So Fox News has been the foundation for a lot of this. They have fueled so much of not only what's happening in the House, but the rise of Donald Trump. It was Fox News who gave Donald Trump a segment back in 2010 and '11 when he was pushing the birther conspiracy theories.
It was Fox News who gave Sarah Palin a platform, for goodness sakes, after she embarrassed herself when she was the vice presidential candidate. I mean, Fox News has really been part of the rot in our political system, and Rupert Murdoch -- and the Lincoln Project, we put this out. Rupert Murdoch has been one of the most dangerous immigrants to ever come to this country, given the power and influence he has had over the zeitgeist and political behavior that we have seen in this country. And it's a shame what he has done with that legacy.
CAPEHART: Phew! I wish I had enough time, Tara, to repeat back to you some of the powerful one-liners you had there, but we are completely out of time.
