Does Fox & Friends vet its guests?
Written by Brooke Obie
Published
In yet another “Fair and Balanced” Fox News panel, Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade enlisted right-wing radio hosts Bradlee Dean, Neal Asbury, and Howie Carr to bring “the voice of the people of Massachusetts, Miami, and Minneapolis,” on whether a mosque should be built in New York City near ground zero. Surprisingly, they all agreed that “as Americans,” we “say no” to the “building of a mosque near ground zero.” “The voice of the people,” has spoken! Never mind that the “voice” was about as diverse as a tea party rally.
And never mind that one of the guests was the same Bradlee Dean who praised the African nation of Malawi for arresting a gay couple that got engaged back in May, reportedly saying “they [Malawians] are very moral; they uphold the laws.” Dean doesn't simply say he disagrees with gay marriage, he doesn't just conclude that God says that homosexuality is “an abomination;” Dean actually appears to be saying that the persecution of a sector of the population whose lifestyle he disagrees with is “moral” and simply “enforcing” God's law.
Dean's disgusting ramblings don't end there. During his May 15 radio show, Dean again discussed “homosexuality” and “sodomy laws,” and said, “Muslims are calling for the execution of homosexuals in America. This was just released yesterday and it shows you that they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws, they know that homosexuality is an abomination.” From his May 15 show:
Dean later denied that he was speaking favorably of “Muslims...calling for the execution of homosexuals in America,” saying that he is “opposed to the state, in any country, no matter what its religious tradition, in executing homosexuals. [sic] We are against anyone, anywhere, at any time, who executes homosexuals for being homosexual.”
During the same show, however, Dean went on to completely fabricate a scary statistic about gay Americans, essentially appearing to claim that all gays and lesbians are habitual sexual predators:
DEAN: On average, they [gays and lesbians] molest 117 people before they're found out. How many kids have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?
Fox & Friends has a history of not appearing to vet its guests. Sometimes, it makes for hilariously uncomfortable T.V. This time, Fox has elevated yet another wingnut to a mainstream media platform. At what point will Fox News either take responsibility for vetting the guests before allowing them a platform to speak, or take ownership of the hateful positions its guests spout?