MSNBC’s Ari Melber discusses Fox News completely ignoring sex trafficking allegations against Matt Gaetz
Melber: “Fox basically turned on Gaetz and gave him a full, “New phone who dis?”
Published
Citation From the April 8, 2021, edition of MSNBC's The Beat with Ari Melber
ARI MELBER (HOST): With regard to the strange relationship with Hannity, I want to just put up for viewers another thing that came to light with how tightly they just see themselves as on a team, at least until the probe became public.
Hannity giving Gaetz this private advice over text, "Pull it down and say what you said. It will pass," about this tweet about Cohen that was potentially witness intimidation.
And then Gaetz just asking straight up, "How long should I lay low? And Hannity says, "Just a while. Maybe send a note to Michael privately."
I mean, this is quite a level of detail of two people who admit to be teammates. And yet, what Gaetz seems to be learning the hard way, Jason, is that Hannity, like Trump, is gone the moment the heat arrives.
JASON JOHNSON (GUEST): Oh, yes. Ari, these are very transactional relationships between the Republican Party and Fox, and that's why it was all so very telling.
The moment the scandal came out, remember, Gaetz was like, "Well, I got jobs lined up," and suddenly Fox News is like, "Yeah, we don't know you. We haven't -- we haven't talked to you, we haven't had any formal conversation."
There are too many politicians right now, whether it's Gaetz or Boebert or Sarah Palin a couple years ago, who think that, "Well, if I'm not actually doing my job, if I get in trouble in a scandal, I can just have Fox cover for me."
And it doesn't work that way anymore. There's a certain disgust that even Fox News may have if you get in too much trouble. Maybe you could get away with being a Roy Moore or a Larry Craig, you know, three to five years ago, but you can't do that anymore.
And Gaetz who has alienated by so many different kinds of people by being accused of being a snitch, by not necessarily being careful with his words, by trying to throw Tucker Carlson under the bus, you know, these are all things that make him radioactive, even for Fox News who seems to want to defend anybody under any circumstances.
MELBER: Yeah. You make some really politically precise points there, which are important, Jason, that Fox basically turned on Gaetz and just gave him a full, "New phone, who dis?"