Fox & Friends Cribs RNC Doc To Attack Dems For “Pivoting” To “Jobs”

Written by Julie Millican

Published

Fox & Friends aired several segments today criticizing Democrats and President Obama for “pivoting” to “jobs” after the default crisis was resolved. The co-hosts wondered “what's new” about their pledges, as Obama has been “talking about” jobs and the economy “for two years,” which they suggested meant Obama wasn't actually as focused on jobs as he claimed to be.

If this sounds familiar, then you, too, probably read an August 2 Republican National Committee (RNC) research document that made the exact same argument using very similar language.

At the very least, it seems pretty clear that Fox & Friends' segments were inspired by the RNC's research department. Observe:

  • RNC Says: “Obama will be more focused on saving his own job.”
  • Fox & Friends Says: Co-host Steve Doocy said of Obama and Democrats: “Obviously what they're doing is they're trying to protect their jobs.”
  • RNC Says: Democrats are “Pivoting in Circles.”
  • Fox & Friends Says: Doocy said of Democrats: “They're pivoting so much they're spinning around in a circle.”
  • RNC Says: “ObamaCare Was A Distraction From The 'Jobs Problem.' ”
  • Fox & Friends Says: Co-host Gretchen Carlson concluded the show's first segment on the topic by saying: “When you look back in history, people will say that he was not talking about jobs when he was talking about health care. ... Many could argue that maybe he should have been talking about jobs, and maybe we wouldn't be at the situation that we are now.”
  • RNC Says: The Democrats' “pledges” to focus on jobs “sound familiar.”
  • Fox & Friends Says: During their segments, on-screen text aired which said, “Déjà vu? President Offers Similar Strategies In Speech.”
  • Fox & Friends Says: Doocy also quipped that Obama's “been talking about the economy and it being fragile, and jobs is his job one for the last two years. So what's new?”
  • ·Fox & Friends Says: Fox & Friends also repeatedly aired a video montage of Obama discussing jobs as his priority during the past two years.

Of course, this isn't the first time Fox has looked to the Republican Party's research or press releases for inspiration.

Back in 2009, for instance, Fox News' Happening Now passed off a Senate Republican Communications Center press release as its own research -- typo and all. More recently, Happening Now reported that “Today, the headline is this ... government spending as a share of our economy will increase by nearly 70 percent by 2035.” Earlier that day, House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) issued a press release which stated that “government spending as a share of the economy will increase by nearly 70 percent between now and 2035.”

Fox figures repeatedly used the GOP's “ram it through” language to attack health care reform. They adopted the GOP's choice phrase of “Obamacare” to describe health care reform. And in 2009, Fox & Friends recited a misleading House GOP press release to distort Obama's estimates of the stimulus' job impacts.

The examples of Fox News' tendency to lift “news” from GOP materials are numerous. Today's Fox & Friends segment is just the latest example proving that Fox News isn't a news outlet, it's the Republican Party's cable propaganda network.

Take a look: