Stuart Varney: Fox News' “very clearly partisan” economic analyst
Written by Fae Jencks
Published
Fox News regularly uses Fox Business host Stuart Varney as their primary analyst of business and economic news. However, Varney has frequently advocated for Republican electoral victories and has described himself as “very clearly partisan.”
Varney: “I'm very clearly partisan”
Varney: “I'm very partisan, I'm very clearly partisan.” On June 10, Fox & Friends hosted Varney to discuss the unemployment rate and programs to stimulate job growth. In the segment, Varney praised President Reagan for cutting taxes which supposedly “set off a growth of prosperity for a generation,” and criticized President Obama for not following the same tack. Varney followed up his comments by stating “I'm very partisan. I'm very clearly partisan.”
Varney: Republican electoral victories are the “only hope” for the economy
Varney: “You've got to have the Republicans sweep in November ... that's the only hope” for the economy. On the August 25 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, Varney claimed that in order to improve the economy, America “must change course” by electing Republicans:
INGRAHAM: You know, keep hands off. But lives touched. So they keep changing the goal posts, moving the goal posts to try to, again, make people feel like things are better. But there's not a spin for this. You can't spin your way out of this. You need to change course. What they're doing is wrong.
VARNEY: Yes, you must change course. I think that the change of course that we require first and foremost is a political change of course. You've got to have the Republican sweep in November so that you can then increase some confidence in private enterprise that we're going to start to expand, that we're going to start to just get this economy moving. It's a political change at first. Translates into economic change down the road. That's the only hope.
Varney calls for a “change in Congress” to “shift direction” of economic policy. On the June 4 edition of Fox & Friends, Varney agreed w ith host Steve Doocy that a “change in Congress” is necessary to avoid tax increases. Varney also stated that we've “got to shift direction of our overall economic policy at the federal level” and that the “answer” to our economic trouble “is politics.”
Varney is “optimistic about the economy going forward” if the “Republicans win big in November.” On the September 2 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, following Varney's prediction that if the recovery continues at its current rate it will be “years before we drop below 8 percent unemployment,” Varney claimed that he was nevertheless “optimistic about the economy going forward” if the “Republicans win big in November.” Varney claimed that Republican victories would lead to “certainty on regulation, certainty on taxes” as well as a “return to the - to some degree of confidence” that the economy “will expand.”
Varney: “I'm going to be very political; if the Republicans swept in November ... I think that would really turn around the whole confidence factor in the American economy.” On August 27, Varney appeared as a guest on Fox News Radio's Kilmeade & Friends where he responded to a caller's question about the economy by saying that he was “going to be very political,” adding that he was “hoping” America would “change politics” through a Republican sweep in the 2010 elections:
If the Republicans swept in November -- if they did that -- I think that would really turn around the whole confidence factor in the American economy because we might get a chance at turning course economically. Away from government, more towards private enterprise, more towards private individual. Remember, there's $2 trillion held by big companies in America, held in banks. It's not being put to work in the economy because there's no confidence in a robust recovery. Change politics, and I think you might turn the corner on confidence. And that's what I'm hoping, [caller].
Varney: “Your 401(k) could do well” if Scott Brown wins. On the January 19 edition of Fox & Friends, Varney claimed that if Republican Senate candidate Scott Brown won his election, “it sends an enormous message -- a very powerful message -- to the Democrats in Congress and to the White House that, hey, we don't like your domestic economic policy. Reverse course.” Varney also stated that “investors would love that” and that “your 401(k) could do well because of that.”
Varney: “If we don't change course in November of 2010 we are surely headed for a real crash.” On the July 6 edition of Hannity, Varney referred to the upcoming election as “the most important election since the presidential election of 1980” and argued that "[i]f we don't change course in November of 2010 we are surely headed for a real crash."
Varney: “If you want to pile on the debt, vote Democrat.” While guest-hosting the September 3 edition of Your World with Neil Cavuto, after claiming that the “1994 Republican sweep of Congress” caused tax revenues to go up, Varney told his guest that “if you want to pile on the debt, vote Democrat.”
Varney: Obama and Congress are “essentially socialist,” policies are “un-American”
Varney: Obama and Congress are “essentially socialist.” On the July 14 edition of The Fred Thompson Show, Varney said that though he was “reluctant to say it,” he thought that “this president and this Congress and this administration is essentially socialist.” Varney continued by claiming that “they really want to make a fundamental shift in the way America works” and are “not capitalists at heart.”
Varney: “You're asking me, is [Obama] a socialist, and the answer is: He sure looks like one.” On the February 25 edition of Fox & Friends, Varney was asked by co-host Brian Kilmeade whether Obama “had a right to be defensive” about being called a socialist by his critics. Varney responded by claiming that Obama had “nationalized industries from cars, to housing, to student loans, and maybe health care. He has demonized profitable industries from oil to banks. He's expanded the role of government and vastly expanded the workforce of the government. He's redistributed wealth and income. Those are all the hallmarks of a very left-of-center administration.” Varney continued by stating: “You're asking me, is [Obama] a socialist? And the answer is: He sure looks like one.”
Varney calls Obama's economic polices “socialism” and “un-American.” On the September 3 edition of Hannity, Varney claimed that "[w]e've had an 18-month experiment with American socialism" and that “we do not like it, we want to reverse it.” He also claimed that the economic policies enacted in the past 18 months were “un-American.”
Varney says Obama admin prefers “failed European socialism” to “restor[ing] America's middle class to prosperity.” On the July 26 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Varney claimed that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire is “bedrock Obama policy of redistributing the wealth.” Varney further alleged that “the Obama administration thinks it's better to reshape America along the lines of failed European socialism than it is to restore America's middle class to prosperity.”
Varney accused Obama of creating an “un-American, almost anti-American mentality.” On the March 29 edition of Hannity, Varney claimed that President Obama is “creating an un-American, almost anti-American mentality”:
He's creating an un-American, almost anti-American mentality, a mentality of something for nothing: You have a right to a house, a right to a job, a right to medicine, a right to health care. You do not. This society doesn't confer those rights upon you. You have a right to compete for housing, for a job, for health care, fair enough. But it's that entitlement mentality that's just like Europe.
Varney claims Obama “is going to demonize you if you make a profit ... for being competitive and aggressive.” On the July 13 edition of Hannity, Varney claimed that as a small business owner you small business owners “know full well” that under Obama's economic policies “your taxes are going up. You know perfectly well that the regulatory climate is going to be really awful. You know full well that this president is going to demonize you if you make a profit, demonize you for being competitive and aggressive.”
Fox's Varney to caller who suggests Obama is intentionally destroying the economy: “You are so right.” On the July 9 edition of Kilmeade & Friends, Varney responded to a caller who suggested that Obama was intentionally destroying the economy by saying “Oh, man, you are so right”:
CALLER: All right, Stuart, if someone wanted to destroy the American economy and ensure that there would be no growth and it would be stagnated for generations to come, wouldn't you do exactly what Obama's doing to it?
VARNEY: Jack, oh, man, you are so right. I hate to agree with you, but you, sir, are right. We're heading towards disaster here. The brick wall is ahead of us.
KILMEADE: But I will fight him on this. I don't think it's intentional. I believe he believes in what he's doing, I don't think he's doing it to destroy the country.
VARNEY: He wants to reshape America in the wrong way.
Varney: Violent G-20 protesters are putting “what President Obama has been saying” into practice. On the June 28 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck, Varney claimed that the protesters who demonstrated at the G-20 summit were “radical environmentalists” who are “looking at what President Obama's been saying about the demonization of business and putting it into practice.”
Varney: Obama's call for BP escrow account is “Hugo Chavez-like.” On the June 16 edition of Fox & Friends, Varney called the BP escrow account to cover expenses from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill “Hugo Chavez-like” because the government was “seizing private assets and just sticking them into the control of politicians.”
Varney claimed that the federal government has “demonized” and “looted” BP. On the June 16 edition of Glenn Beck, Varney complained that the government has “successfully demonized and now looted BP.” Varney continued his accusations against the Obama administration, claiming that they will use the escrow fund to “send” to “their political buddies.”
Varney says BP escrow account to compensate Gulf residents will be “political slush fund.” On the June 15 edition of Hannity, Varney referred to the BP escrow fund as a “political slush fund”:
VARNEY: He's going to force BP to put, what, $20 billion into this fund. Now legally, constitutionally, you can't do that. He's got to get BP to agree to put that money in.
DANA PERINO (Fox News contributor): Which they have -- which they've already said they would do.
VARNEY: They'd probably do it.
HANNITY: Yes.
VARNEY: But he's going to tell them, “You've got to do it, and you've got to restore the entire Gulf.” Now you've just set up a very large -- I'm going to call it a political slush fund -- $20 billion under the control of politicians appointed by the White House? What are they going to do with that money? Where is it going to go?
Fox News' Varney: Obama administration will “coerce or force us all into buying the small cars that it insists Detroit puts out.” On the March 31, 2009, edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, Varney claimed that following the governmental action, General Motors is “now an Obama company” and “will be run according to political criteria.” Varney then stated that the Obama administration's policies will “coerce or force us all into buying the small cars that it insists Detroit puts out.”