Fox ‘straight news' anchor uncritically recites debunked Trump administration talking point

BAIER

Is the chief political anchor of Fox News willing to admit when a top Trump official gets the facts wrong? Apparently not.

As President Trump is coming under increasing pressure regarding ordering the killing of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley wrote on Twitter that Democrats should also have criticized former President Obama for the deaths of Osama Bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki, and former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Putting aside the deaths of Bin Laden and al-Awlaki, Muammar Gaddafi was killed by members of the Misrata militia in 2011, not at the order of President Obama. The United States military was involved in the Libyan Civil War, but not involved in the death of Gaddafi.

Gidley received widespread and immediate criticism for his unfounded claims with Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) tweeting that Gidley should “just do a google search.” Despite this, Fox News’ so-called ‘straight news’ anchor Brett Baier read Gidley’s tweet in an interview with Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) without noting that Gidley got the facts wrong.

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Citation From the January 10, 2020 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier:

Fox’s “straight news” shows regularly puppet Trump administration talking points. Baier himself recently dismissed criticism of Trump over Iran as “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”