Both of these networks relentlessly focused attacks on the Green New Deal during this time despite the fact that it is not currently U.S. law, and the Biden administration is not pursuing it. Instead, Fox is weaponizing a proposal it has spent years toxifying to thwart climate action and scare its viewers into accepting a more dangerous world with continued fossil fuel usage.
Fox immediately blamed the Green New Deal when Russia invaded Ukraine
In one week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – February 24 to March 2 – Fox network programs mentioned the Green New Deal approximately 57 times. Right off the bat, Fox segments were blaming the Green New Deal for empowering Russia to invade Ukraine.
On the February 25 edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight, network contributor Charles Hurt called Joe Biden “a president who puts America last and believes in literally cutting every source of strength the country has out, and then setting us out into the world. This is what happens. This war is the Green New Deal war. This is John Kerry's war.”
This point was repeated nearly verbatim by Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy on the February 27 edition of Fox & Friends Weekend, saying, “This is a Green New Deal war. This is John Kerry's war. This is AOC’s war. We are in this position because we allowed Russia to be empowered and enriched because of our energy policy.”
Additionally, Fox Business host Larry Kudlow began his first Green New Deal attack during this period on the February 28 edition of Kudlow, stating, “This whole problem was brought on by the radical left Green New Deal policies, and of course the catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan. My point is these problems are of Biden’s own making.”
As the global energy crisis unfolded over the next few months, Fox repeatedly tied any Biden climate action to the Green New Deal
As the invasion deepened the global energy crisis, Fox segments furthered the network’s Green New Deal attacks and linked them to Biden’s climate agenda and global efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
On the April 1 edition of Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) claimed that Biden “tried to pass a Green New Deal through a Democrat House and Senate and couldn’t even get the votes. … Now they’re trying to get these federal agencies to impose it backdoor through regulation.” On the March 1 edition of Fox News' America’s Newsroom, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) stated that Biden is “continuing to double down on tenets of the Green New Deal,” while pushing for increased oil and gas leases on federal lands.
These statements show that Fox is trying to make any and all climate actions synonymous with the Green New Deal, which helps the network in its long campaign of pro-fossil fuel and anti-climate action propaganda.
It wasn’t just Biden’s climate actions (or perceived slights against the fossil fuel industry) that drew Green New Deal comparisons. For example, on the April 13 edition of Hannity, host Sean Hannity linked the plan to high gas prices and inflation, noting that gas was $2.42 under Trump, and that “inflation was only 1.4%, not 8.5. And clearly, Biden’s Green New Deal climate alarmist socialist agenda is an unmitigated disaster.” (Fox has been hounding Biden as being solely responsible for high gas prices throughout much of the spring and summer.)
Fox also invoked the Green New Deal to suggest that Europe's implementation of climate policies is why it is in an energy crisis right now, as on the May 13 edition of Hannity, with Fox contributor Phil Flynn saying: “Look at the war in Europe. This is the first war of the Green New Deal, right, because Europe … decided to get more dependent on green energy, and it's failing, and we want to repeat the same mistakes here.”
Mentions again peaked in mid-June, when Fox blamed the Green New Deal for high gas prices and energy shortages
There were 15 Green New Deal mentions on June 21, with Fox Business’ Kudlow alone airing 7 that day.
The host and former Trump economic adviser claimed that “Joe Biden has decided to choose a radical climate agenda rather than national energy security,” adding, “We're also financing Russia's war machine, but the Bidens are still determined to implement a crazy Green New Deal strategy that frankly will never happen.” He also falsely implied that the Biden administration supports high gas prices, stating, “The Biden administration would much rather go for their crazy woke Green New Deal stuff, climate change stuff, instead of sensible, commonsense national security measures that would increase fossil fuels. … They think high gas prices are great for their Green New Deal.”
A new line of attack came on the June 17 edition of Hannity, when guest host Pete Hegseth linked the Green New Deal to potential rolling blackouts during the summer.
“Now, but rather than admit these obvious policy failures, the far-left climate extremists who now run the Democrat Party – and they do – they're not resting,” he declared. “They refuse to admit their mistakes and instead continue to double down on their destructive, economy-killing Green New Deal disaster.”
