Amid Ida devastation, America's Newsroom mentioned climate change only once — to complain that mentioning it's political

Co-anchor Bill Hemmer: “We're going to pop out of this — you know, it's turned political quite quickly. It didn't take long to put the focus on quote-unquote ‘climate change.'"

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the September 2, 2021, edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom

BILL HEMMER (CO-ANCHOR): We're going to pop out of this — you know, it's turned political quite quickly. It didn't take long to put the focus on quote-unquote “climate change" here in New York. In the meantime, though, we're dealing with at least 14 people who have died between New York and New Jersey based on the reporting we're getting now. 

Fox anchor Bill Hemmer cut out of a news conference on the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in New York, complaining that the commentary from the officials had turned “political" after several people mentioned climate change in their remarks. 

Hemmer bemoaned the fact that officials “put the focus on quote-unquote ‘climate change'” before mentioning that the storm had left a death toll of 14 people across New York and New Jersey. 

While numerous elected officials mentioned climate change during their remarks on Ida (most of which Fox aired), Hemmer's comment about “quote-unquote ‘climate change'" was the sole mention of climate change on the program itself, according to a review of the show's transcript.

Hemmer's comments, which came on one of Fox's so-called “news" shows, aren't entirely surprising. A recent analysis by Media Matters found that Special Report, Fox's flagship “news" program, has a troubling record reporting on the climate crisis.