To his credit, Howie Kurtz blasted Fox's tepid response to criticism of the ad. I got on Howie's CNN show a decent amount, and it's fair to say that Howie has defended Fox in the past against accusations of bias. And he freely admits so in his story. So I do think it's particularly important that someone like Howie believes Fox has not only crossed a line in airing the attack ad, but that they've crossed an even greater line by refusing to fully repudiate it and take disciplinary action against the employees involved.
Wednesday’s video tarnishes the journalists who work at Fox News. Everyone knows that Fox & Friends is a right-leaning show whose hosts have disparaged Obama. During the 2008 campaign, Wallace accused the program of "distorting" what the candidate had said and declared that "two hours of Obama-bashing may be enough."The problem is that this is Fox News. And at Fox, bias isn't a bug, it's a feature.
The fact that the hosts were happy with this latest video assault on the president is nothing short of revealing.
This is a moment of truth heading into the general election. Roger Ailes should denounce the video and criticize his network’s handling of it. He should make clear that such partisan garbage has no place on Fox News. Otherwise people will assume that Fox’s worst critics are right.
