Fox’s “news”-side show buries its own anchor’s pushback of White House immigration adviser

Chris Wallace made headlines for his strong pushback on Stephen Miller. The next day, America’s Newsroom pretended it didn’t happen.

Fox anchor Chris Wallace made headlines for his strong questioning of  President Donald Trump’s senior policy adviser Stephen Miller during an interview on Sunday. But the next day, Fox’s America’s Newsroom buried Wallace’s performance in an attempt to further the Trump administration’s talking points.

On July 21, Wallace hosted Miller on Fox News Sunday to discuss Trump’s racist tweets recently directed at four freshman congresswomen of color, as well as the resulting “send her back” chants directed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) that occurred at Trump’s rally a few days later. Miller’s answers to Wallace’s questions were filled with lies about the congresswomen and the rally, as he falsely said that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called America “garbage” and he claimed that Trump clearly disagreed with the “send her back” chants. The interview made headlines when Wallace pushed back on some of Miller’s claims, pointing out that Trump’s disagreement with the chant was not clear because he let it go on for 13 seconds and then did not address it. Wallace also grilled Miller on past statements Trump has made about President Barack Obama and the U.S.

Many journalists and media outlets focused on Wallace’s pushback during the interview. But while Fox’s America’s Newsroom repeatedly aired clipped footage from the interview on Monday, the anchors aired none of Wallace’s questioning of Miller, focusing instead only on Miller’s statements that the four members of Congress “detest America as it exists” and that Democrats are using the term “racist” to “silence and punish and suppress people they disagree with.” And at one point, the anchors gave Fox contributor Byron York the opportunity to expand upon Miller’s lie that these members of Congress are anti-American.

The show’s disingenuous airing of only Miller’s responses from the interview follows a pattern of Fox burying newsworthy moments and strong journalism on its own network in favor of right-wing talking points that make the Trump administration look better. 

From the July 22 edition of Fox News’ America’s Newsroom

BILL HEMMER (CO-ANCHOR): Stephen Miller with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday talked about [Trump’s tweets], too. 

[BEGIN CLIP]

STEPHEN MILLER (WHITE HOUSE SENIOR POLICY ADVISER): These four congresswomen detest America as it exists, as it is currently constructed. They want it to be a socialist, open borders country. If you, as Donald Trump says, want to destroy America with open borders, you cannot say your love your country. If you attack border agents the way that [Rep. Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez has, it means you have a deep-seated hatred of the nation as it exists. 

[END CLIP]

HEMMER: That interview too, Byron, quickly on that. 

BYRON YORK (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): Well look, the part about loving the country, obviously, Democrats are going to completely reject. But if Republicans and the White House want to say Democrats are for open borders or they’re for socialism, those are two of the main themes of this campaign as it is emerging. So we will see more of that. 

HEMMER: Stephen Miller also said the people that they're referring to in North Carolina -- remember Fayetteville? He said these people are tired of being beaten up, looked down upon, talked down to by members of Congress on the left and Washington, D.C. A lot of people in middle America probably would agree with that point.