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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe fur flies at Fox News over Kathy Barnette: Hosts Splinter as Chaotic PA Primaries Heat Up
The rise of Kathy Barnette in the states G.O.P. Senate race has divided the networks stars, with some backing her and others going on the attack to help a rival, Dr. Mehmet Oz.https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/13/us/politics/fox-news-barnette-oz-pennsylvania.html
Fox News is having another one of its moments. The networks internal fissures were on public display this week as host after host, at times seemingly in dialogue with one another, either defended or threw rhetorical spitballs at different candidates in Pennsylvanias ghost-pepper-hot Republican primary races. It was a reminder of how the battle for hearts and minds within the G.O.P. is playing out across the conservative news media, an ever-evolving ecosystem that has grown only more complex since Donald Trumps famous glide down that golden escalator. And it was a sharp illustration of how Fox News grants extraordinary latitude to its biggest stars with each prime-time show often operating as its own private fief.
Thursday night alone was pretty wild, with Sean Hannity pumping up Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trumps choice for Senate, and talking down Kathy Barnette, a conservative media commentator whose late surge in the May 17 primary has alarmed Republican Party insiders and thrilled the rambunctious G.O.P. grass-roots in Pennsylvania. An hour later, Laura Ingraham was defending Barnette against what she called smears.
To viewers, it presented the illusion of a real-time debate between warring factions of what remains the nations most powerful cable news channel. Fox News did not offer an on-the-record comment by publication time. This is the closest thing to a head-to-head competition weve seen between two Fox hosts in quite some time, said Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, a nonprofit group aligned with the Democratic Party that monitors conservative news outlets. When youre watching at home, it appears seamless, said Greta Van Susteren, a former Fox News host, who said that Ingraham probably hadnt watched Hannity while preparing for her show. But when I was at Fox, we all had our own real estate, and nobody ever told me what to say or do.
And its not just Fox. Various lesser-known conservative media stars have joined the boisterous public discussion over whether Republican voters should tap Oz, widely seen within the partys base as a faux Trumper or Barnette, who comes off as very much the real thing. On the Full MAGA end of the right-wing media spectrum, the likes of Sebastian Gorka and Steve Bannon were giving softball interviews to Barnette, who rose to prominence largely outside of Fox News. Meanwhile, Hugh Hewitt, a syndicated radio host who once was considered more of an establishment figure but now supports Trump, was endorsing David McCormick, a former hedge fund executive who has appeared to fade in the Senate primary as the other two leading contenders have risen.
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The fur flies at Fox News over Kathy Barnette: Hosts Splinter as Chaotic PA Primaries Heat Up (Original Post)
Celerity
May 2022
OP
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)1. "News" people do not endorse candidates. People pretending...
to give you the news endorse candidates.
They are really giving you the finger.
brush
(53,776 posts)2. Too many NYT firewalls. Pls at least post a photo.
Use this from now on for most paywalls.
https://archive.ph/
cheers
NJCher
(35,662 posts)3. She is the child resulting
From a rape. She wants to deny women the right to choose.
Hekate
(90,674 posts)5. FOX in disarray? Republicans in disarray? Bwahahahahaha