Murdoch's WSJ Gives Fox A Pass For Its Cain Coverage

Written by Eric Boehlert

Published

Commenting on Herman Cain's “inevitable” withdrawal from the presidential contest, The Wall Street Journal editorial page today scolds part of the GOP Noise Machine for not dealing responsibly with the initial allegations of sexual harassment made against Cain in early November. It was those allegations that eventually led to the collapse of Cain's campaign.

From the Journal [emphasis added]

More troubling, he clearly hadn't thought hard enough about the challenges a President must confront.

Presidents don't have to be policy wonks, but they should be able to show more than a passing acquaintance with the major issues of the day. Mr. Cain showed that he understands how an economy works, but on foreign policy in particular he seemed almost dismissive of knowing too much, or very much at all. This was especially damaging in a year when GOP voters are looking for a nominee who can go 10 rounds with President Obama.

This is the weakness that the talk-radio establishment overlooked when it dismissed the sexual-harassment accusations against Mr. Cain as one more left-wing conspiracy. Whether true or not, the accusations resulted in settlements by the National Restaurant Association, where he had been CEO. These were facts on the record. They were bound to come out, especially if he won the nomination.

See, it was “talk radio” that led the kneejerk defense of Cain and blindly defended him against harassment allegations.

Except that, of course, it was not.

Fox, which like The Wall Street Journal is owned by Rupert Murdoch, also played a pivotal role in the misguided effort to defend Cain and to claim he was the target of a left-wing conspiracy. Yet for some reason today's editorial makes no mention of Fox's wildly irresponsible behavior.

In case Journal editors need a reminder, here is a sampling of Fox's confused Cain coverage: