Taking its cues from the Romney campaign, Fox News used many of its shows on July 16 to deflect from the brewing controversy over Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital to focus on the economy:
In an appearance on Fox & Friends, Romney responded to intense scrutiny into his years as CEO, chairman, and sole shareholder of Bain by downplaying the criticism and focusing attention onto President Obama and the weak economy.
Fox News apparently noticed Romney's dodge, and several of the channel's hosts dutifully repeated the “Bain doesn't matter, the economy does” mantra over much of the day:
- Steve Doocy told the audience that at the weekend barbecues he attended, no one saw “what the whole deal was about.”
- Eric Bolling said, “Mr. Obama wants to point out that Mr. Romney may have outsourced jobs during his tenure or after his tenure at Bain Capital, but isn't it true that there really are -- there are somewhere around 500,000 fewer jobs in America under President Obama?”
- Martha MacCallum called the Bain controversy “an effort to distract” from jobs and the economy.
- Jon Scott recited a list of weak economic indicators and asked, “Do you really think that [Bain is] the issue that matters?”
- Megyn Kelly noted the controversy over Bain before reading a litany of negative economic statistics and asking, “So, are we debating the right things right now in this country?”
- Neil Cavuto lamented that “we're still dithering over whether Mitt Romney left Bain as late as 2002.”