Why is Fox Nation still pushing “birther” conspiracies?
Published
As we documented, last week marked the one year anniversary for the Fox Nation. In stark contrast to the advertised promise of a non-“biased” outlet, Fox Nation's year was marked by a deluge of misinformation, conspiracy theories, political activism, and irresponsible rhetoric.
It looks like Fox Nation is starting year two by picking up where they left off. Visitors to the Fox Nation today are greeted with this:
The headline and image link to a page with this YouTube video embedded:
First and foremost, the point of the video -- which is from 2008 -- is absurd. The suggestion seems to be that the First Lady accidentally let slip that her husband was born in Kenya by referring to it as his “home country.” It's depressing to have to explain this, but the president's ancestors on his father's side hail from Kenya, so referring to it as his “home country” is not exactly a startling admission.
More importantly, Fox Nation includes no context whatsoever for the video. Typically, when they want to promote something disreputable like birtherism, they'll link to someone else making an incendiary accusation or throw an exculpatory question mark at the end of the headline. But in this instance, Fox Nation informs their readers that birthers are “up in arms” over this video, but includes no evidence to support that claim. Who are these “birthers” that are “up in arms?” People that are emailing Fox Nation? There's been some chatter about the video on Free Republic. Is that now the threshold for a news story on Fox Nation?
Perhaps Fox Nation meant the birther who posted the video in the first place. Here's an excerpts from that person's profile on YouTube:
Barack Hussein Obama is an un-documented illegal alien. Regardless of his birth location, admitted having a foreign national as his father, disqualifies him from being a 'Natural Born Citizen' as required by the United States Constitution.
Nice company you are keeping, Fox Nation.
Of course, this isn't the first time Fox Nation has pushed the debunked birther conspiracy. Last May, in one of their “we're just wondering” questions, Fox Nation posted a headline at the top of their website asking, “Should Obama Release Birth Certificate? Or Is This Old News?” It was old news.
In July, Fox Nation posted a birther story with the subtle-as-a-jackhammer image of Obama in Somali clothes...twice.
In pushing the new video, Fox Nation once again joins with the birthers, a group of people Glenn Beck and his radio crew have called “stupid” and “morons” that sound like “flat earthers.”