NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck made his third appearance in as many weeks Monday on the Fox News Channel’s Fox News @ Night with Trace Gallagher and, alongside former Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon, he blasted the liberal media for their wavering cowardice in the wake of President Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
Gallagher went first to Dixon, telling her the left and their media allies are “trying to gaslight us all over again” into thinking “you didn’t see what you saw” with Biden last week and “it wasn’t really that bad.”
Dixon noted these sudden and years-late acknowledgment that Biden’s mental state has slipped:
They started it the week before with the whole cheap fakes thing. You’re not seeing — these are your — don’t believe your lion eyes. You’re not seeing what you’re actually seeing. And now they’re coming out, and they realize that their lies can no longer be held up. They can’t continue lying to the American people. The American people saw him, and we don’t even know if that was at his worst. That’s the scary part and now they’ve come out with all of these stories. Well, he’s good for six hours a day....The American people have seen the truth.
Gallagher then went to Houck with a tweet from former Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki defending her former White House colleagues who prepped the President for the debate and have been blamed by some for what happened.
Houck said the overly prepared narrative “remind[ed]” him “of the liberal narrative that we hear all the time that, when liberal policies fail, it’s cause they care too much or they didn’t communicate well enough,” or “our ideas are great that people just don’t know what we’re doing.”
Houck added that, in Psaki’s case, she’s being a team player while also “thanking her lucky stars that she’s not the White House podium.” As for those still there, Houck noted that they must be appreciative since their jobs working for an elected Democrat is usually “the easiest job in politics,” but hasn’t thanks to Biden.
Gallagher then had Dixon react to Friday’s Real Time on HBO as host Bill Maher and former MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews said Biden needs to drop out, but they fear he’ll stubbornly stay in.
Dixon agreed with that prediction since Biden’s such “an egotistical maniac that can’t possibly comprehend the idea of leaving” even though “the vultures are circling” like her former opponent:
[Y]ou already have the story that broke that Gretchen Whitmer was calling people that night saying, we’ve lost Michigan. [GALLAGHER LAUGHS] And, you know, she doesn’t know the national scene. So, she doesn’t know that that was like a faux pas and then, all of a sudden, she gets her hand slapped and they’re like, this isn’t how you work the presidential race, lady. So, it’s like the Democrats are in full meltdown mode. And I think it’s kind of beautiful, because they brought this on themselves. They knew exactly who Joe Biden was. Jill knows who he is. But all the staff, they knew this is not — people didn’t find out for the first time Thursday night. Voters — some voters found out for the first time Thursday night.
With time running out, Houck wrapped with a prediction the liberal media will not only circle the wagons around Biden, but try to gaslight the American people into ignoring their moments of moral clarity:
[W]e’re definitely starting to see that — ABC, NBC. I mean, you’ve got trained operatives inside these networks. People like George Stephanopoulos anchoring ABC’s morning show. I mean, you have seasoned veterans here of the Obama campaigns, the Clinton campaigns — who covered those candidacies and they all got in line. They’ll be shamed into doing this.
Houck said that, if the two are talking next week or in the near future, the conversation will be different with the liberal media saying “it’s time to move on.”
To see the relevant FNC transcript from July 1, click “expand.”
FNC’s Fox News @ Night with Trace Gallagher
July 1, 2024
11:15 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Biden Blame Game Ramps Up in Wake of Rough Debate]
TRACE GALLAGHER: Let’s bring in former GOP candidate for Michigan governor and host of The Tudor Dixon Podcast, Tudor Dixon, along with NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck. Thank you both for coming on. Tudor, to you first. I was watching Jake Tapper, of course, one of the moderators of the debate. He was saying, you know, you have this whole — this whole list of Democrats trying to come out saying you didn’t see what you saw. It wasn’t really that bad. It’s not — it — you know, it starts — it’s the switching of the narrative. They’re trying to gaslight us all over again.
TUDOR DIXON: Oh yes, sure. They started it the week before with the whole cheap fakes thing. You’re not seeing — these are your — don’t believe your lion eyes. You’re not seeing what you’re actually seeing. And now they’re coming out, and they realize that their lies can no longer be held up. They can’t continue lying to the American people. The American people saw him, and we don’t even know if that was at his worst. That’s the scary part and now they’ve come out with all of these stories. Well, he’s good for six hours a day. Oh no. Now we’re going to have him come out and talk at 7:45 p.m. and show you two and a half minutes where he can be really strong. [GALLAGHER LAUGHS] Don’t you believe in him now? The American people have seen the truth.
GALLAGHER: Yes, they really have. And that’s the whole thing. I went back to this. I was telling people, listen, I’m reading a teleprompter, right? It’s easy. You read a teleprompter. Yeah, you know, I’m doing it really well, Tudor, don’t get me wrong but it’s easy. [DIXON, HOUCK LAUGH] It’s when you have to process information and then you have to regurgitate it. Where it gets difficult. Jen Psaki, Curtis Houck, said the following here. He [sic] talked about Biden blaming his debate prep team — or she talked about it, saying, “[t]he notion that the issue at the debate was the prep process done by people like Ronald Klain and Anita Dunn who have successfully prepped many candidates, including Obama, Clinton and Biden is absurd.” I mean, he’s the same President who blamed all his generals for Afghanistan. Now he’s blaming the debate people, the preppers.
CURTIS HOUCK: Yeah, Trace. This one’s a real head scratcher. I mean, this reminds me a lot of the liberal narrative that we hear all the time that, when liberal policies fail, it’s cause they care too much or they didn’t communicate well enough. You know, our ideas are great that people just don’t know what we’re doing. I mean, it just completely falls on deaf ears, so they moved on to this other crazy, insane narrative. Jen Psaki, of course, is doing complete damage control. I mean, she’s probably thanking her lucky stars that she’s not the White House podium. And, you know, if you’re the Biden White House, you think, oh my gosh, well, at least somebody is on our side because the rest of the media sure seemed to not be getting in line right now.
GALLAGHER: Right.
HOUCK: If you’re someone in the press office at the White House, you must think, you know, I thought I had the easiest job in politics. I guess not anymore, because your boss is Joe Biden.
GALLAGHER: Right. Bill Maher was talking to Chris Matthews when he said the following, Tudor. Watch.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Liberal Hosts Think Biden Will Lose to Trump]
BILL MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 06/28/24]: The whole rationale for Biden running has always been, I’m the only guy who can beat him.
CHRIS MMATTHEWS [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 06/28/24]: Yeah.
MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 06/28/24]: Now I think it’s inverted. I think he’s the only guy who could lose too him.
MATTHEWS [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 06/28/24]: I think you’re —
MAHER [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 06/28/24]: Or the guy who’s sure — you’re great. So, shouldn’t they replace him?
MATTHEWS [on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, 06/28/24]: — I’m talking about what has to happen, but probably won’t.
GALLAGHER: Yeah. I mean, the whole concept here, Tudor is that, you know, Biden is staying. The question is, why is he staying?
DIXON: Well, we know why he’s staying, because he is an egotistical maniac that can’t possibly comprehend the idea of leaving. However, the vultures are circling.
GALLAGHER: Mmhmm.
DIXON: I mean, you hear that conversation, you know that you’ve got Gavin Newsom, you already have the story that broke that Gretchen Whitmer was calling people that night saying, we’ve lost Michigan. [GALLAGHER LAUGHS] And, you know, she doesn’t know the national scene. So, she doesn’t know that that was like a faux pas and then, all of a sudden, she gets her hand slapped and they’re like, this isn’t how you work the presidential race, lady.
GALLAGHER: Yeah.
DIXON: So, it’s like the Democrats are in full meltdown mode. And I think it’s kind of beautiful, because they brought this on themselves. They knew exactly who Joe Biden was. Jill knows who he is.
GALLAGHER: Yeah.
DIXON: But all the staff, they knew this is not — people didn’t find out for the first time Thursday night. Voters — some voters found out for the first time Thursday night.
GALLAGHER: Right.
DIXON: But everybody around him, they knew how bad this was.
GALLAGHER: Yeah. Curtis, I got 30 seconds left. But she says the vultures are out. I want to know, in your opinion, how long before the media coalesces around Biden again and starts gaslighting us all over again?
HOUCK: Well, Trace, I — we’re definitely starting to see that ABC, NBC. I mean, you’ve got trained operatives inside these networks. People like George Stephanopoulos anchoring ABC’s morning show. I mean, you have seasoned veterans here of the Obama campaigns, the Clinton campaigns — who covered those candidacies and they all got in line.
GALLAGHER: Mmhmm
HOUCK: They’ll be shamed into doing this. You know, try to memory hold these tough couple of days that they saw, but because they were caught flat footed —
GALLAGHER: Right.
HOUCK: — you know, now they’ve got their talking points in order and just wait. Give it another week if we’re talking here, in another week, we’ll see the media just say, hey, it’s time to move on.
GALLAGHER: It wasn’t just flat footed. It was red handed, pants down. I mean, they got busted on this one. Tudor Dixon, Curtis Houck, thank you both.
HOUCK: Thanks, Trace.
