Making his latest appearance on the Fox Business Network’s Varney & Company, Media Research Center president Brent Bozell highlighted on Wednesday the bombshell study by Rich Noyes that found the network evening news coverage of President Trump has been 90 percent negative from September to November.
The appearance came just a few hours after the President himself tweeted about the study on the “Fake News Media” after hearing about it on FNC’s Fox and Friends. Trump’s tweet also occurred a day after Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders alluded to it in Tuesday’s press briefing.
Here’s the President’s full tweet:
After being introduced by Varney, Bozell explained how the numbers are crunched “month after month” dating back to the 2016 presidential campaign with “[t]he best month for President Trump was the honeymoon in January when it was only 89 percent negative and since then, every month, like clockwork it is either 90, 91 or 92 percent negative.”
“I'll tell you, it is even worse than 90 percent negative, Stuart, because that 90, and if you look at that 90 percent what it doesn't include the number of fake stories, false stories that have been done like the Brian Ross story that actually affected stock market. So, you’ve got fake stories within the negative coverage,” Bozell added.
Bozell then made a strong statement about how unusual the stories from ABC, CBS, and NBC have been (even for the liberal media): “There’s no positive coverage of things like the economy, so it’s not just 90 percent negative. It is lack of anything that is positive about this President. We’ve never seen anything like it in the history of this organization.”
Commenting on the latest news about Peter Strzok and his role in the Mueller probe, Bozell observed that, by and large, the network coverage haven’t linked Strzok to Muller but rather spun him as a “rogue” actor.
“Let's see if this is a one and done thing, or if the media pick up on it and continue the investigation of what is truly — all the appearances are now showing is a truly dishonest investigation, dishonest investigation into the President. Let's see if they investigate it. Let's see if they continue covering it or if this is a one and done,” Bozell predicted.
Here’s the transcript of the segment from FBN’s Varney & Company on December 13:
FBN’s Varney & Company
December 13, 2017
10:31 a.m. EasternSTUART VARNEY: The Media Research Council [sic] does a study on negative coverage of the President and the President's tweets and here it is. This is what the President is tweeting by the way: “Wow, more than 90% of Fake News Media coverage of me is negative, with numerous forced retractions of untrue stories. Hence my use of Social Media, the only way to get the truth out. Much of Mainstream Meadia [sic] has become a joke! @foxandfriends.” Okay. Brent Bozell. He’s the MRC president. Those are your numbers. You did the study. You found it was 90 percent negative.
BRENT BOZELL: Yeah. Month after month we do the study. We started it during the campaign in 2016. The best month for President Trump was the honeymoon in January when it was only 89 percent negative and since then, every month, like clockwork it is either 90, 91 or 92 percent negative. Those were the November numbers, 90 percent negative and I'll tell you, it is even worse than 90 percent negative, Stuart, because that 90, and if you look at that 90 percent what it doesn't include the number of fake stories, false stories that have been done like the Brian Ross story that actually affected stock market. So, you’ve got fake stories within the negative coverage. Plus it doesn't include the positive coverage. There’s no positive coverage of things like the economy, so it’s not just 90 percent negative. It is lack of anything that is positive about this President. We’ve never seen anything like it in the history of this organization.
VARNEY: Now, what about the news that Fox is breaking this morning, Fox News and Fox Business, that we have these texts from within the FBI investigation of President Trump and Hillary Clinton's emails, and they show what looks, to me, like a clear state, clear-cut deep state conspiracy, to be against President Trump and to whitewash Hillary Clinton? How is the establishment media going to cover that cause I’ve not seen anything so far?
BOZELL: Well, interesting, this story actually, the texts weren't released but the story broke several days ago. When it broke, Fox covered it relentlessly as it should be, but where the rest of media was concerned, they gave it a little bit of coverage but it was under context of Republicans are trying to undermine the Mueller investigation by going on this tangent. Now the story — the texts are out, which completely confirm that this campaign against the President and the utter partiality of this investigation, there were stories this morning but they were stories that did not associate it with Mueller. It was just, this is rogue person. Let's see, what happened after today. Let's see if this is a one and done thing, or if the media pick up on it and continue the investigation of what is truly — all the appearances are now showing is a truly dishonest investigation, dishonest investigation into the President. Let's see if they investigate it. Let's see if they continue covering it or if this is a one and done.
VARNEY: My guess it’s a one and done, but we're not going to drop it and that's a fact. Brent Bozell as always, thank you much. We’ll see you soon.
BOZELL: Merry Christmas to you.
VARNEY: Oh, Merry Christmas indeed.
