Appearing on Fox Business Network’s Varney & Co. Friday morning, Media Research Center president Brent Bozell called on liberals to denounce the effort by the “radical left” to “censor” and “destroy” any media figure who supports, or even just shows kindness toward, President Trump.
Reacting to Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon being forced to apologize for conducting a friendly interview with Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign – something the late night host routinely does with every guest, including Hillary Clinton – Bozell told host Stuart Varney:
I think that late night television has looked to the left to be its audience....The audience they want is a liberal audience and the audience that they have didn’t like it. Didn't like that he was having fun with Donald Trump. And so the fallout was furious against him for doing just that. And as a result, he has to publicly apologize.
Turning to another manufactured controversy over former Boston Celtics player and Turner Sports NBA analyst Kevin McHale “being savaged for being in an arena with the President of the United States” after attending a Trump campaign rally in 2016, Bozell warned: “It’s a fair statement to say that this has never happened in the history of the republic. That there is a movement so radical in America that it would censor and would attempt to destroy the career of anyone in the same room as the President of the United States.”
The MRC president then put pressure on liberals to police their own when it came to such tactics:
I think, you know, liberal – the people that need to rise up at this point are liberals, not conservatives, not moderates. Liberals. Because it is the radical left that I think ultimately is hurting them more than anyone else. This is something George McGovern would never have stood for. This is something that Teddy Kennedy would never have stood for. I don’t know where Barack Obama stands on this, I’m waiting for him to denounce these people.
Bozell and Varney also discussed the latest fake news embarrassment for ABC News, when the network displayed a false headline on screen during live special coverage of the president’s Wednesday remarks on immigration. The chyron at the bottom of the screen claimed former Trump campaign manager Paul Manfort “Pleads Guilty to 5 Charges of Manslaughter.”
Bozell cited ABC’s history of bias and bad reporting:
You know, it could be innocent, but the problem is, that ABC is just getting caught in making one outrageous statement after another against Donald Trump and against conservatives. You know, this is the same network where Joy Behar called Christianity a mental disease and it took a month and a huge amount of pressure before she apologized. It was – you know it’s the network of Brian Ross tanking the markets, it’s the late night comedians regularly savaging Trump. This is a network that if when it’s not making this mistake, is just attacking him, just purely attacking him. So they say they’re doing an investigation into this. I’d like very much for them to explain exactly how that happened. But this is what happens when people don’t trust you.
While that investigation is ongoing, Fox News has reported that sources within ABC News claim “that the false report was a ‘practice chyron’ that had likely been maliciously written by a hostile ABC News employee.”
Here is a full transcript of Bozell’s June 22 appearance on Varney & Co.:
10:45 AM ET
STUART VARNEY: And then we have Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon. Believe it or not, he’s apologizing for mussing Donald Trump’s hair when he interviewed him back as a candidate in the 2016 election campaign. This is incredible. Media Research Center president Brent Bozell is with us. I’m lost for words, Brent. I can’t believe that you have to apologize because you have contact with a candidate a couple years ago.
BRENT BOZELL: Yeah, look, this is the state of affairs on television today. It’s kind of interesting, I think that late night television has looked to the left to be its audience, whether it’s Colbert, whether it’s Jimmy Fallon, whether it’s Jimmy Kimmel. The audience they want is a liberal audience and the audience that they have didn’t like it. Didn't like that he was having fun with Donald Trump. And so the fallout was furious against him for doing just that. And as a result, he has to publicly apologize. And this is no different than so many other things that we’re seeing, like Kevin McHale from the Boston Celtics, who is being savaged for being in an arena with the President of the United States. No, nothing like this has ever –
VARNEY: All he did was appear at the Minnesota thing. That’s all he did. Kevin McHale – all he did was appear at the Minnesota rally for Donald Trump. And now, some people say he can’t be on the air even, you can’t do on-board analysis for the NBA. I mean, this is ridiculous, Brent.
BOZELL: It’s a fair statement to say that this has never happened in the history of the republic. That there is a movement so radical in America that it would censor and would attempt to destroy the career of anyone in the same room as the President of the United States. Now, it doesn’t matter what you think about Donald Trump, just as it doesn’t matter what Brett Bozell thinks of Barack Obama or Bill Clinton before him. You’ve never ever heard a conservative suggest that a man shouldn’t have a career because he was in the room with the President of the United States.
I think, you know, liberal – the people that need to rise up at this point are liberals, not conservatives, not moderates. Liberals. Because it is the radical left that I think ultimately is hurting them more than anyone else. This is something George McGovern would never have stood for. This is something that Teddy Kennedy would never have stood for. I don’t know where Barack Obama stands on this, I’m waiting for him to denounce these people.
VARNEY: But, can you assume that the left is winning with this? Is it – do you really think it is a winning strategy?
BOZELL: No. I think that – I think that Donald Trump will win reelection to the presidency because of this. I really do. I mean, think that television commercials are being written already for his campaign. Do you want a president who will champion this kind of behavior? And I think Donald Trump wins reelection if he runs on this kind of campaign. I think the public doesn’t stand for this. Even people who don’t support Donald Trump know this is very wrong.
VARNEY: Alright, ABC News, okay, they briefly aired a totally wrong graphic which read: “Paul Manafort Pleads Guilty to Five Charges of Manslaughter.” This is the same network that gave us Brian Ross, who tanked the markets on that false report about Russia, Russia, Russia. What do you make of this latest from ABC? Owned by Disney.
BOZELL: You know, it could be innocent, but the problem is, that ABC is just getting caught in making one outrageous statement after another against Donald Trump and against conservatives. You know, this is the same network where Joy Behar called Christianity a mental disease and it took a month and a huge amount of pressure before she apologized. It was – you know it’s the network of Brian Ross tanking the markets, it’s the late night comedians regularly savaging Trump. This is a network that if when it’s not making this mistake, is just attacking him, just purely attacking him. So they say they’re doing an investigation into this. I’d like very much for them to explain exactly how that happened. But this is what happens when people don’t trust you.
VARNEY: Brent, I’m really glad that you’re on top of all of this, the Media Research Center. We need you guys and I hope you can appear more often on this program. Brent Bozell everyone, thank you very much, sir.
BOZELL: My pleasure, thank you.
