2
The Fox News Lie: Fox’s supposed “news” side has lied every
weekday since the beginning of the year
Fox News viewers are subjected to a constant torrent of lies, misleading statements, and half-truths as the network's hosts, guests, and on-air personalities weave a comprehensive web of misinformation imbuing virtually all aspects of the outlet's supposed "news" operations. Media Matters has compiled a list of lies and false statements told and retold every single weekday during Fox's purported "straight news" programming throughout the first four full months of 2022.
January 3
FALSE: Fox News contributor Tom Homan repeatedly claimed
the U.S. has “open borders” under the Biden administration.
JOHN ROBERTS (ANCHOR): Tom, you rightly make the point that the Biden
administration has not fully reimplemented “Remain in Mexico.” It a
pplies mostly just to
single males who are coming across the border; doesn’t apply to families, as it did under
the Trump administration. But at least having that policy partially reinstated, what message does that send to migrants who might have their eyes set on the southern border? TOM HOMAN (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): Well, they got to look up the CBP stats, saying OK, a total of 200 people were returned in two months, when we have had
tens of thousands cross the border. The word’s out. The whole world kn
ows the border is open, and that's why the numbers continue to climb; 170-some-thousand in
November. And December is going to be higher. It’s going to be an historic high for December. They haven’t put the numbers out yet because they’re trying to figure o
ut a way to spin it. But the numbers
—
every month this year has been historic. We went from the most secure border in my career, which spanned 35 years, to the first year
under President Biden, historic highs. We’ve never seen numbers like this coming
across the border in the history of this nation. And he did that within months. So again, the Biden administration is ignoring border security, they believe in
open border policies, and that's why they are not apologizing. That’s why they have
failed to put
any enforcement action in place, and they’re suing back and appealing the
decisions to secure the border. I have never seen an administration come into office and purposely
—
and purposely unsecure the most secure border we have ever had. And
they’re not apologizing for it. This isn’t mismanagement. This isn’t incompetence. This is
open borders by design. This is what they want.
FACT: The claim that the United States has an “open border” with Mexico is “absurd.”
As PolitiFact explained, there are numerous security measures and types of enforcement at the southern border, including 20,000 Border Patrol agents, physical barriers, and surveillance
3
systems. PolitiFact also quoted University of Texas Rio Grande Valley political science
professor Terence Garrett saying, “There's no such thing as an open border. We don't have an open border. That's absurd.”
January 4
FALSE: Fox News contributor Keith Kellogg repeatedly claimed the Middle East was
“quiet” following the U.S. assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani during the
Trump administration.
SANDRA SMITH (ANCHOR): Meanwhile, Iran sharpening its rhetoric against the United States as that nation marks the second year since the assassination of General Qassim Soleimani.
…
GEN. KEITH KELLOGG (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): Look, when we killed Qassem Soleimani, that was a strategic decision by President Trump to reset the battlefield in the Middle East, and it was designed to do that and it worked. President
–
I’m sorry, Prime Minister Netanyahu later told us that we ate the arm o
ff the tiger. And, for a year, things were very, very quiet after we eliminated Soleimani.
…
KELLOGG: They always fall back on, well, it’s all because of Trump, because
Trump killed Soleimani. That was one of the best things that happened to the United States and to peace in the Middle East when we eliminated Soleimani. And I think that period of quiet that we had proved that.
FACT: The assassination of Qassem Soleimani brought the United States and Iran to the brink of war in early 2020.
Iran responded with a military strike that caused more than 100
American injuries, which was reportedly the largest ever ballistic missile strike on U.S. forces,
and nearly led to war between the U.S. and Iran. The tensions following the assassination also
contributed to Iran mistakenly shooting down a Ukrainian passenger jet, killing all 176 people onboard.
January 5
FALSE: Fox News guest Burt Folsom falsely claimed FBI agents were
“involved in stirring up the crowds” during the pro
-Trump January 6 insurrection.
BURT FOLSOM (HISTORIAN): I think we need to know more about January 6th. There's so much footage that has not been released. We still don't have data on how many FBI agents were involved in stirring up the crowds. These are important questions