Fox Cries “Class Warfare” To Defend Rich From Buffett Rule

Fox responded with outrage after Obama renewed his case for the Buffett Rule, which would set a minimum effective tax rate for millionaires, accusing Obama of waging “class warfare.”

“Class Warfare”: Fox Objects To Buffett Rule Tax On Rich

Bolling: In Speech Promoting Buffett Rule, Obama “Kept To His Theme Of Class Warfare.” During the April 11 edition of Fox News' The Five, commenting on Obama's speech, co-host Eric Bolling said:

BOLLING: [Obama] kept to his theme of class warfare. Here it is, come on down. Day one we find out that Mitt Romney is likely going to be the nominee and right off the bat it's the Warren Buffett tax, it's Warren Buffett's tax that's going to raise taxes on only those evil rich people. Not everyone else, just the evil rich people.

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BOLLING: Warren Buffett does not say that a Warren Buffett tax will solve a darn thing. The only thing a Warren Buffett tax will do is create class warfare. Not help the debt, certainly not help the American economy. [Fox News, The Five, 4/11/12, via Media Matters]

Fox Regular Steve Moore: Push For Buffett Rule Is “All About” Obama's “Theme” Of “Class Warfare.” From the April 11 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:

BILL HEMMER (co-host): [The Buffett Rule] would raise $47 billion over the next 10 years. $47 billion would fund the government for 7 days. So just more than one working week. Projected deficit over 10 years, so that's $7 trillion.

MOORE: Yeah.

HEMMER: So why do you bank on this then?

MOORE: Well, I think that this is all about the theme that President Obama has laid out in the last couple of months, that he reiterated yesterday, which is that this is about class warfare. It's about basically trying to tell the middle class, If we can take more money from the rich, that will make you better off. It's a theme that in history, Bill, has not really worked very well. [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 4/11/12, via Media Matters]

Napolitano: Obama's Push For Buffett Rule Is “Class Warfare At Its Worst.” On the April 12 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier, Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano asserted that Obama's push for the Buffett Rule is “class warfare at its worst.” From the show:

BRET BAIER (host): Judge, you see the president, the vice president out on the stump. They're talking a lot about this Buffett Rule and we've talked about it ad nauseam here. About $4 billion is the total take on that. What do you make of this?

NAPOLITANO: Class warfare at its worst. Rather than a president who's trying to unite the country behind him, he is trying to divide the country. It doesn't make sense from a point of view of economics 101. The president is smart enough to know that. Meaning the imposition of the tax will actually result in fewer tax dollars going into the Treasury because of the effect it will have by removing that money from rich people to invest, which produces more jobs. He must know that, this is very basic economics with which very few people can disagree. But he wants to demonize the rich because Mitt Romney is one of them. [Fox News, Special Report with Bret Baier, 4/12/12, via Media Matters]

On Fox, AEI's Marc Thiessen Says The Buffett Rule Is An Obama “Campaign Gimmick” To Create “Class Warfare.” During the April 12 edition of Fox News' America Live, Marc Thiessen, a Fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said:

THIESSEN: [Obama] is still pitting red America against blue America. That's what the whole -- the controversy over contraception is about, pitting red America against blue America. That's what the Buffett Rule -- fight is all about. He's pitting -- he even said the other day it's just a gimmick. It's a campaign gimmick to pit class warfare and pit Americans against each other. And look, this is what the Democrats wanted in 2008. [Fox News, America Live, 4/12/12, via Media Matters]

Fox Routinely Beats The Drums Of “Class Warfare”

Fox Figures Called Obama's Jobs Bill “Class Warfare.” In September 2011, Fox figures responded to Obama's jobs bill by claiming that Obama is engaged in “class warfare ... one of those soak the rich things” and that Obama “could not help but resort to using the same kind of class warfare.” [Media Matters, 9/13/11]

Fox Said Obama's Call For A “Balanced Approach” To Deficit Reduction Is “Class Warfare.” In August 2011, Fox figures accused Obama of “conducting what is clearly class warfare” by calling for a “balanced approach” to deficit reduction. [Media Matters, 8/4/11]

Fox Blasted Obama's Speech On Inequality By Accusing Him Of “Class Warfare.” Fox News figures responded to Obama's December 6, 2011, speech on inequality in America by accusing him of engaging in class warfare. [Media Matters, 12/6/11]

Fox Figures Claimed Obama's Deficit-Reduction Plan Is “Class Warfare.” In September 2011, Fox responded to Obama's deficit-reduction plan by accusing him of engaging in “class warfare.” [Media Matters, 9/19/11]

For more examples of Fox accusing President Obama of engaging in class warfare, CLICK HERE.