Fox “straight news” show attacks voting rights bill by calling vaccine requirements “segregation”

Fox anchor Harris Faulkner also recycles the network’s false talking points against voting laws in Democratic-run states

Written by Eric Kleefeld

Published

Blurring any supposed lines between Fox’s purported “straight news” and opinion sides, Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Will Cain appeared on Thursday’s edition of The Faulkner Focus, during which anchor Harris Faulkner did not question his accusation that President Joe Biden was imposing “literal segregation on terms of vaccination status.” Faulkner also repeated a series of misleading talking points about voting rights.

Faulkner opened the discussion by asking Cain what he thought of the Biden administration’s “dismissive tone” in its push for federal voting rights legislation. Cain then claimed that Biden was engaging in psychological projection, the process in which a person accuses others of character flaws or misdeeds they have actually committed themselves.

“The president sits there and calls his political opponents Bull Connor or George Wallace,” Cain said, referring to notorious segregationist leaders in Alabama during the 1960s, “while pushing for literal segregation on terms of vaccination status.” Multiple Fox News personalities, including Cain, have compared vaccination requirements to the Jim Crow era, apartheid, and even Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, Fox News has more stringent policies on vaccination, testing, and masks than anything the Biden administration has sought to mandate.

Faulkner also repeated a variety of false claims about voting laws in states currently governed by Democrats. The false claim that Colorado’s laws on early voting are “tougher than they are in Georgia,” is absurd because Colorado is a universal mail-in voting state — but the claim was readily circulated last year by Fox’s purported “news” side.

In addition, the network’s anchors also invoked the election laws in Biden’s home state of Delaware in efforts to defend Republican proposals in Texas last year. Delaware, however, effectively made mail-in voting universally available as a pandemic-related measure in 2020, and is also in the process of implementing early in-person voting for 2022.

From the January 13, 2022, edition of Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus

HARRIS FAULKNER (FOX NEWS ANCHOR): Will this dismissive tone further doom the president's agenda? Will Cain is the co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, great to have you in focus. Will, your top-line thoughts on this?

WILL CAIN: My top-line thoughts. The president ran on a message, he promised to be a unifier for the American people. And from day one in office, he’s done nothing but attempt to divide Americans in service of his own power. He has divided us on almost every single possible line you can imagine — race, vaccination status.

You know, you and I, Harris, at times in the past over the last couple of months, have talked about the power of projection. I’ve told you, I believe that people that yell ‘racist’ the loudest are the ones that practice racism. Those that wear science as a fashion item, you know, violate every scientific principle and scientific process that you would ever have been taught.

Here again, though, I think is another example of projection. Because the president sits there and calls his political opponents Bull Connor or George Wallace, while pushing for literal segregation on terms of vaccination status, and hoping to have Americans use their race as their primary identifying factor and in fact embrace concepts that would segregate our classrooms. I think what we’re watching once again is the president project his own sins onto the American people, and do anything, do anything but promise — live up to his promises of unifying this country. 

…

CAIN: And by the way, how about instead of a rebuttal, Harris, we just ask a simple question? Because the president was talking about quote-unquote ‘voting rights.’ I would like to know, from any critic I would entertain, anyone who disagrees — name me, name me the law across the country that disenfranchises minority voters? Name me the law that would roll us back to Bull Connor or George Wallace days. Name me the problem with America’s voting.

FAULKNER: They thought that they had perhaps found it in Georgia, but then it backfired when [Major League Baseball] pulled its game from there and put it in Colorado. And then we found out that the restrictions on early voting, for just an example there, are tougher than they are in Georgia. And look at the state of Delaware, where the president spends about 20% of his time these days. Take a look at what they do with early voting there. We won't get into it here, we’ll save it for another day, but it’s there to see.

CAIN: Right.