Fox Continues Promoting Food Stamp Report Criticized As “Tour De Force Of Half-Truths, Distortions, And Outright Lies”

Bill O'Reilly: “The Obama Administration Is Encouraging Parasites To Come Out And, Y'know, Take As Much As They Can With No Remorse”

Written by Tyler Hansen

Published

Fox News promised to continue highlighting segments from its report, “The Great Food Stamp Binge,” an hour-long attempt to characterize SNAP recipients as freeloaders. One participant in the report, an advocate against hunger, described it a “tour de force of half-truths, distortions, and outright lies.” 

On the August 12 edition of Special Report, guest host Shannon Bream played an excerpt of Bret Baier's report on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits (commonly referred to as food stamps) and promised to continue highlighting parts of the report throughout the week:

Later that evening, Fox's Bill O'Reilly also pushed the report, contending that SNAP shows that the Obama administration “encourag[es] parasites to come out and take as much as they can with no remorse.”

Media Matters has noted that the report is a wild misrepresentation of SNAP recipients. One advocate featured in the report, Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, called it a “tour de force of half-truths, distortions, and outright lies” that “could win the Pulitzer Prize ... for fiction.” From Berg's statement:

Once again, Fox News is blaming the victim, claiming that low-income families - who are victims of the continued collapse in the U.S economy and the failure of the U.S. political system to fix it - are somehow to blame because they need temporary help from SNAP benefits to feed their families. That's like blaming those who drowned on the Titanic for the ship's faulty design and reckless piloting. Ignoring the fact that most SNAP participants are working, or are senior citizens, children, people with disabilities, and veterans, the show repeatedly gives the false impression that the program encourages laziness instead of work. Even though there are 47 million Americans now receiving SNAP benefits, the show focuses on one individual - yes, one - who abuses the system.

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[T]he Fox show is a tour de force of half-truths, distortions, and outright lies. In fact, were it not for the half-truths, the report would have no truths at all.

Fox News has a long tradition of mocking the poor.

This post has been updated.