In a segment that was mocked by my equal over at Mediaite, the Fox News Channel’s The Five led off Thursday’s installment by brutally mocking the liberal media as “continu[ing] to win the brain dead Olympics” and prove that they’re “not that smart,” as evidenced by their ludicrous fact-checking of a Daily Wire meme the President retweeted, featuring himself with the now-famous military service dog Conan.
This was with the exception of liberal co-host Juan Williams, who slammed the meme as a petty act of self-centeredness by President Trump and something that likely confused many people.
Co-host Greg Gutfeld led the A-block with his monologue, boasting that, prior to a brief supercut of CNN and MSNBC personalities, “[t]he media continues to win the brain-dead Olympics, not because of the President but in spite of him” regarding the al-Baghdadi raid.
Gutfeld pivoted to the meme of the President and Conan, which instead of causing a few chuckles, “[t]he brainless media sprung into action to prove that yes, this was fake” as reporters such as Jim Acosta and Voice of America’s Steve Herman and outlets like The New York Times were on the case.
The FNC co-host concluded his monologue with a preemptive strike on what Williams would offer moments later (click “expand”):
Now, sensing they were ripe for ridicule, the media switched gears saying the image was disrespectful to the man whose image was photoshopped. But that guy, James McCloughan, got a kick out of it, he loved it. Of course he never would have known about it if reporters hadn't run to him with their tattle tales between their legs. Mind you, this is the same media who can’t be bothered with actual stories, whether it's the origins of the Steele dossier or the political bias of the whistle-blower, but the media is in a pickle cause good about America means good news for Trump. And so they act smaller with each passing achievement. Maybe Trump shouldn't be so effective, just to give the media a break. It’ll be like the good old days under Obama.
Speaking of Williams, he fretted that the meme was “a little troubling because it's a sense of, there is a separate reality” between fact and fiction with the dog, the President, and McCloughan. In addition, Williams complained about how the President again stole the headlines on the al-Baghdadi raid to focus on himself.
Well, in the case of the meme, the media and not the President made this happen, so it’s a problem they created exclusively.
Gutfeld countered that “the media, since 2016, has lost her sense of humor” even though “[t]hey didn’t have much to begin with.”
Fellow co-host Jesse Watters then laid out quite the humorous analogy and called the media dumb (click “expand”):
WATTERS: The media is the dog. It's fake and they’re chasing their tails and we’re all just laughing at them. Juan, I’ve gotten in trouble for saying this before, but I don’t care and I’m going to say it again. The media is not that smart. They’re fact-checking a meme. This was a joke —
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
WATTERS: — and it went over everyone's head in the media. How stupid do you have to be to not understand the joke? They’re fact-checking a joke and we’re supposed to trust them to vet sources.
WILLIAMS: Nobody — nobody could be sure that it was a joke.
WATTERS: Juan — Juan!
WILLIAMS: Initially, they thought they would bring the dog in
WATTERS: There's a little watermark right here on the right.
WILLIAMS: Yes. That’s how — that’s how —
WATTERS: The President did not give the Medal of Honor to the dog, Juan.
WILLIAMS: That’s — wait. Wait a second. That — first of all, it’s not the Medal of Honor. It's a metal with a dog paw on it. I just had to check, alright.
To give Williams the benefit of the doubt, he too could have been joking. But you never know.
At one point, Williams even griped that he didn’t like Trump’s meme on the basis of his support for “reality and truth.” Well, Juan, parodies by nature aren’t real, but whatever.
Fill-in co-host and legal analyst Emily Compagno astutely described the liberal media’s world as “so small” and noted that Mcloughan even spoke out saying that he enjoyed Conan replacing him in the meme with Trump.
Compagno added that this served as “a greater metaphor for the mainstream media” in which “they’re supposed to be playing for” and “representing one team and that's us” on Capitol Hill and at the White House, but they’ve consistently failed to do so.
To see the relevant transcript from FNC’s The Five on October 31, click “expand.”
FNC’s The Five
October 31, 2019
5:00 p.m. Eastern
GREG GUTFELD: The media continues to win the brain-dead Olympics, not because of the president but in spite of him.
KATY TUR [on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, 10/28/19]: Not because of the President, but in spite of him.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA [on CNN’s The Situation Room, 10/28/19]: Perhaps in spite of President’s
CHUCK TODD [on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, 10/29/19: In spite of President Trump
ERIN BURNETT [on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront, 10/29/19]: Despite the President’s “ineptitude”
CHRIS CUOMO [on CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime, 10/28/19]: Largely in spite of.
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL [on MSNBC’s The Last Word, 10/28/19]: Largely in spite of.
CUOMO [on CNN’s Cuomo PrimeTime, 10/28/19]: And not because of.
O’DONNELL [on MSNBC’s The Last Word, 10/28/19]: And not because of Donald Trump.
GUTFELD: Anyway, if you thought The Washington Post “austere religious scholar” obituary for the ISIS madman was nuts, hold my kibble. Yesterday, the president tweeted an obviously photoshopped image of himself pending a medal of honor on the hero dog. The brainless media sprung into action to prove that yes, this was fake. Reporter Steve Herman breathlessly tweeted: “I’ve requested details....on this photo. There was no such canine event on today’s....schedule.” Excellent, scoop Steve, can't wait to see who plays you in the movie. The New York Times solemnly added that yes, this photo was indeed altered. And then there's Jim Acosta who said “a [White House] official said ‘the dog is not at the [White House].’” Good catch, Jim. Be sure, in fact, to check this photo, too right. Yeah, it was a great moment for me, I won't brag. Now, sensing they were ripe for ridicule, the media switched gears saying the image was disrespectful to the man whose image was photoshopped. But that guy, James McCloughan, got a kick out of it, he loved it. Of course he never would have known about it if reporters hadn't run to him with their tattle tales between their legs. Mind you, this is the same media who can’t be bothered with actual stories, whether it's the origins of the Steele dossier or the political bias of the whistle-blower, but the media is in a pickle cause good about America means good news for Trump. And so they act smaller with each passing achievement. Maybe Trump shouldn't be so effective, just to give the media a break. It’ll be like the good old days under Obama.
(....)
5:03 p.m. Eastern
JUAN WILLIAMS: You know, I — I think — I think this is to me a little troubling because it's a sense of, there is a separate reality. The dog is a hero and the man who was originally in the picture is a hero and deserves our respect and all the rest.
GUTFELD: Absolutely
WILLIAMS: So for me it's like, is this real? Oh, no, no. It's a joke. It’s President Trump and he’s just playing a joke.
GUTFELD: It was Daily Wire, actually.
WILLIAMS: Why doesn't everyone just have a good sense of humor? But I think this goes back to something we were talking about yesterday which is the left’s frustration with the way that the president announced the al-Baghdadi murder, killing him, right? Because al-Baghdadi is a good thing for our national security.
GUTFELD: Right.
WILLIAMS: It's a good thing the president approved this mission, but the way the president talks about it and much like this meme — is that a meme, Jesse?
JESSE WATTERS: It’s a meme.
WILLIAMS: So much like this meme, it then all becomes about Trump, right? It’s all about — it’s not about the special —
GUTFELD: It’s fun. It’s fun.
WILLIAMS: — yeah, it’s fun in your opinion and —
GUTFELD: No, but it’s also fun.
WILLIAMS: But I don’t think so. It’s not about special forces. It’s not about the military. It’s not about the allies, the Kurds. It's not about admitting the withdrawal made this operation more difficult for American special forces, and it's also Trump then saying, “oh, you know, this is bigger than bin Laden.” Come on, get out of here. Why is it always about Trump?
PERINO: Can I just say though that dogs, though, are the things that bring Americans together, like, there's no politics when it comes to dogs. I mean, one loves dogs. It was, I think, it was a great way to bring America together and we can all celebrate.
GUTFELD: Yeah and it’s — I — I — believe, Jesse, that the media since 2016 has lost her sense of humor. They didn’t have much to begin with, but —
WATTERS: Well, they’ve lost their common sense, too.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
WATTERS: And that's what makes them senseless. Permission to make an analogy?
GUTFELD: I would love one.
WATTERS: Okay. The media is the dog. It's fake and they’re chasing their tails and we’re all just laughing at them. Juan, I’ve gotten in trouble for saying this before, but I don’t care and I’m going to say it again. The media is not that smart. They’re fact-checking a meme. This was a joke —
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
WATTERS: — and it went over everyone's head in the media. How stupid do you have to be to not understand the joke? They’re fact-checking a joke and we’re supposed to trust them to vet sources.
WILLIAMS: Nobody — nobody could be sure that it was a joke.
WATTERS: Juan — Juan!
WILLIAMS: Initially, they thought they would bring the dog in
WATTERS: There's a little watermark right here on the right.
WILLIAMS: Yes. That’s how — that’s how —
WATTERS: The President did not give the Medal of Honor to the dog, Juan.
WILLIAMS: That’s — wait. Wait a second. That — first of all, it’s not the Medal of Honor. It's a metal with a dog paw on it. I just had to check, alright.
WATTERS: Here we go again. He’s fact-checking it.
WILLIAMS: In other words — in other words, people are like, “this is for real?” Cause you know what? The dog deserves to be honored.
WATTERS: It's only confusing for people like you.
WILLIAMS: No, I agree. Because you know what? I like reality and truth.
GUTFELD: Okay, but here’s the other —
WATTERS: But not humor, though.
PERINO: But does anyone think that President Trump would invite the dog and pin a metal on it and the media wouldn't be there?
GUTFELD: Oh my God, they would —
WATTERS: He’s doing it next week.
GUTFELD: — he’s not doing it yet.
WATTERS: Next week, the dog is coming.
GUTFELD: Emily, a lot of this has to do with people in the media who don't have many outside interests. Like we all kind of understand photoshop. We’ve all had to deal with — like it’s a — Jim Acosta has, like, never in his life ever come across, like, even the most basic photoshopping.
EMILY COMPAGNO: Their world is so small and I love — you know, you talked about the actual medal of honor recipient, that Army medic —
GUTFELD: They called him, right.
COMPAGNO: — right, McCloughan and he said, he loved it. His quote was a wonderful, he said he was certainly not offended and he laughed when he saw the two images compared and he interpreted that the President was recognizing the heroism of the dog and that the dog is part of the team and I felt like that was a greater metaphor for the mainstream media. They are supposed to be playing for one team. They’re supposed to representing one team and that's us. That’s every American that doesn't have access to the President and doesn't have access to the Hill and we rely on them to wade through to see the forest for the trees and they fail in their larger perspective. The big perspective, they’re supposed to bring us and so, instead, we get, “the dog is not at the white House.” it's like what happened in the early days of the internet, where I would screenshot and to send to my mom, like those crazy, amazing pictures and she would be like, “oh, honey where are you?” “No,” I’m like, “like, Mom, obviously I didn’t take that.” And instead they’re losing all of the big perspectives for everything whether it’s the opioid crisis, and homelessness, and the southern border, to whether this is just a joke in a moment of levity during a period of gratitude for executing the —
WILLIAMS: So, I think that merits gracious.
PERINO: Is it possible that Jim Acosta was joking?
COMPAGNO: — totally.
GUTFELD: It's hard to tell because he never jokes. He’s always angry.
PERINO: But it is possible that some of these reporters were joking when they were fact-checking him.
WILLIAMS: No, let me just say, I disagree with you. Listen, I think, by the way, that gentleman —
PERINO: I’m trying to help.
WILLIAMS: — the man in the picture —
WATTERS: Yeah, Juan, let her help you.
WILLIAMS: Yeah, we’ll try, but I'm just going to tell you what — how I genuinely feel. The man in the picture was gracious. I wish that we could see that from our President, but just as Emily’s mom said, “hey, honey where are you,” there are a lot of Americans who would think, well, that’s the President putting a medal on a dog.
WATTERS: It's no wonder that you guys fell for the Russia hoax.
[PANEL LAUGHS]
WILLIAMS: Oh, there you go. And it’s no — no joke that you are still in the hoax.
[PANEL LAUGHS]
