Fox News’ “opinion” and “news” programs aired the same deceptively edited clip of President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, omitting his self-contradiction about whether he discussed former Vice President Joe Biden with the Ukrainian government. Giuliani was commenting on a broader story about an intelligence community whistleblower’s complaint against the president that reportedly involves the Ukrainian government and a “promise” made by Trump to an unidentified foreign leader.

Giuliani’s interview on the September 19 edition of CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time drew considerable media attention, particularly because Giuliani first claimed that he had not discussed Biden with the Ukrainian government, then contradicted himself seconds later, saying that “of course” he discussed Biden with the Ukrainians. 

But when Fox & Friends covered the notable exchange on September 20, the show blatantly omitted any sign that Giuliani contradicted himself, airing only his second assertion that he did discuss Biden. The audio of the clip cuts out before the video ends, but CNN host Chris Cuomo can clearly be seen mouthing the words to Giuliani, “You just said you didn’t.” 

 

When Fox News’ opinion shows draw controversy for omitting facts to push a biased narrative, the network claims that its news and opinion divisions are completely separate. However, the flagship “straight news” program America’s Newsroom ran the exact same deceptively edited clip in a report from Fox News’ chief White House correspondent John Roberts, who had also reported during the Fox & Friends segment earlier in the day.

As has been evident for years, the division between “opinion” and “news” sides at Fox is meaningless. For example, Ed Henry -- who is both a regular Fox & Friends guest host in the “opinion” division and the chief national correspondent in the network’s “news” division -- brazenly lied just yesterday that Trump has constructed “miles and miles of new wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border. Of course, the Trump campaign ran with his lie. 

And then there is the depraved story of Fox News pushing the Seth Rich conspiracy theory, a vicious lie that both the “news” and “opinion” divisions promoted -- and for which Fox has never held anybody accountable, more than two years after the network promised to “investigate” itself. (Coincidentally, Rudy Giuliani has also promoted the Seth Rich conspiracy theory.)

Whether it’s the “news” or “opinion” division, Fox News cares about one thing only: pushing conservative propaganda, no matter the cost.