The following article by Matt Wilstein was posted on the Daily Beast website January 11, 2018:
While the rest of cable news is openly calling the president ‘racist,’ Fox News is dutifully defending his egregious remark.
It didn’t take long for President Donald Trump’s remarks about “shithole countries” to reverberate on cable news.
CNN reported the president’s words—essentially confirmed by the White House—unbleeped, offering a warning of sorts for viewers about the offensive language describing immigrants from Haiti and Africa. The Daily Beast’s own editor in chief, John Avlon, was the first the call the remark “straight-up racist” on The Lead with Jake Tapper, but many others echoed that sentiment in the following hours.
John Avalon reacts to President Trump’s ‘shithole’ remark: “This is straight up racist.” http://cnn.it/2AR6Zlh
CNN’s Jeffrey Toobin and Jim Acosta, along with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) and others, all called Trump’s comment “racist” Thursday afternoon. On MSNBC, that word was used by Republicans like host Nicolle Wallace and former Jeb Bush adviser Michael Steel along with Coons’ Democratic colleague Richard Blumenthal.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the whole “shithole countries” controversy played very differently on Fox News.
It started with a tweet from prime-time host Tucker Carlson, who let it be known where he stood by giving two options. “A: El Salvador isn’t a ‘shithole,’ so they don’t need 17 years of Temporary Protected Status, and migrants from there should be sent home immediately,” or “B: El Salvador is, in fact, a ‘shithole.’” In response, one commenter offered a third option: “You’re a racist.”
Option A: El Salvador isn’t a “shithole,” so they don’t need 17 years of Temporary Protected Status, and migrants from there should be sent home immediately. Option B: El Salvador is, in fact, a “shithole.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-attacks-protections-for-immigrants-from-shithole-countries-in-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/11/bfc0725c-f711-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html?utm_term=.9bcfded9313d …
Trump attacks protections for immigrants from ‘shithole’ countries in Oval Office meeting
The president’s comments on immigrants from El Salvador, Haiti and other nations surprised lawmakers.
washingtonpost.com
The attitude on Fox News’ The Five was similar. “I think it’s either fake news or if it’s true, this is how the forgotten men and women in America talk at the bar,” Jesse Watters said. “This is how Trump relates to people.”
“If you are in a bar in Wisconsin and you are thinking they are bringing in a bunch of Haiti people or El Salvadorians [sic] or people from Niger, this is how some people talk,” he continued. “Is it graceful? No. Is it polite or delicate? Absolutely not. Is it a little offensive? Of course it is. But you know what? This doesn’t move the needle at all. This is how Trump is. He doesn’t care. He shoots from the hip. And if he offends some people, fine.”
View the post here.