Fox Attacks Obama's Brazil Trip As A “Vacation” Then Refuses To Air His Speech

Written by Justin Berrier

Published

Today, President Obama spoke in Brazil, highlighting that country's rising economic power, growing middle class, and transition from military dictatorship to thriving democracy. The speech capped off a visit meant to promote the United States' economic relationship with Brazil and the entire South American region, with the stated purpose of encouraging job growth. The speech drove home the very points Obama made in his March 18 USA Today op-ed in which he said: “That's one of the reasons I will travel to Latin America this week -- to strengthen our economic relationship with neighbors who are playing a growing role in our economic future.”

Ignoring the President's stated goals, Fox News spent the week portraying the trip as a vacation, calling it his “spring break” while claiming he was “leaving behind” the “budget crisis,” as well as ignoring the dual crises occurring in Libya and Japan. So how did Fox reconcile their week of smearing the President over his trip to Latin America with his speech promoting economic growth? By simply not airing the speech at all.

Instead, Fox News Channel decided to go ahead with their replay of Fox News Sunday:

Fox News Sunday replay

By contrast, during their scheduled replay of Meet The Press, MSNBC decided instead to air the president's speech:

MSNBC Airs Obama's Speech

MSNBC then re-aired Meet The Press upon the conclusion of Obama's remarks.

Even still, Fox wasn't completely dedicated to replaying Wallace's show. At 2:30, when they were scheduled to show Wallace's interview with Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu, Fox cut away from Fox News Sunday to cover breaking events in Libya:

Fox Tripoli coverage

This is, of course, not the first time Fox has refused to air the president while other networks do, they even cut away from Obama's health care speech in March, 2010 to report on former ESPN reporter Erin Andrews' “peephole stalker,” and later in March cut away from Obama's health care bill signing to report on an airplane that “had no problem landing.” Sadly, at this point, it's hardly shocking to find them ignoring the president while he's destroying their anti-Obama talking points.