UPDATED: Fox Nation Misleads With Its “National Debt” Clock

Fox is synonomous with many things, two examples of note would be fearmongering and misinformation. Today on Fox Nation, both were achieved.

On the front page of Fox Nation is a debt clock with a figure upwards of $14.4 trillion. Which means, according to this clock, we've already hit the debt ceiling and gone straight through to the other side.

There's no doubt that the United States is fast approaching its $14.29 trillion debt ceiling. Although the total national debt exceeds $14.29 trillion, the debt ceiling only applies to U.S. Public Debt Subject to the Limit. That figure can be defined as “the maximum amount of money the Government is allowed to borrow without receiving additional authority from Congress. The current statutory limit is $14.294 trillion.” Here is a screenshot of the Fox Nation debt counter (left) side by side with the one available at USDebtClock.org, taken at 7:32 a.m. today (April 25): debtclock

Perhaps even more unnerving than its blatant misinformation is the request for Fox Nation readers to "Contact Your Representative" in regard to this fictional debt, fearmongering over a figure that bears no relevance in the current debt ceiling debate.

Finally, regardless of which figure Fox Nation intended to report, either the U.S. Public Debt Subject to Limit or the U.S. National Debt, it seems as though Fox Nation just made its figure up.

UPDATE: As of 8:47 a.m. on April 26, Fox Nation reported that the National Debt has miraculously decreased:

debtclock2

(*Note: This post has been updated from the original.)