Fox News hasn’t mentioned the mysterious visit to the Ecuadorian embassy, home of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, by Donald Trump-ally and Fox contributor Nigel Farage. Farage has refused to explain why he visited the embassy and whether he spoke to Assange during the visit.
According to BuzzFeed, on March 9 Farage visited the Ecuadorian embassy “where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been living since he claimed asylum in 2012.” When asked about his visit Farage claimed he couldn’t remember why he visited the embassy adding, “I never discuss where I go or who I see.” Farage’s visit came after WikiLeaks released what they claimed were documents showing the CIA’s ability to hack into everyday technology such as smartphones and smart TV’s. The most recent WikiLeaks release appears to be an attempt to defend Trump’s “indefensible” lie that President Barack Obama ordered Trump Tower and the Trump presidential campaign to be hacked:
It is significant, therefore, that one of the major storylines to emerge from the latest WikiLeaks release is that the CIA supposedly has a program to reuse computer codes from foreign hackers, thus disguising CIA fingerprints on a hacking operation. Never mind that there is no evidence that the codes used to break into the DNC were part of this CIA database. Right-wing outlets are nevertheless trumpeting these revelations with headlines such as this one on Breitbart: “WikiLeaks: CIA Uses ‘Stolen’ Malware to ‘Attribute’ Cyberattacks to Nations Like Russia.” Russian-controlled Internet “bots” are also said to be playing up these claims online.
The implication is clear. Trump was a victim of a “false flag” operation wherein CIA hackers broke into the DNC and blamed the Russians. This may be nutty, but it’s eminently believable to an audience conditioned to believe that 9/11 was an inside job and that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged — favorite tropes of the radio talk-show host Alex Jones, whose work Trump has praised. Other WikiLeaks revelations — for instance, that the CIA can use Samsung smart TVs as listening devices — lend further credence to Trump’s charge that he was secretly wiretapped.
Fox News hasn’t reported on Farage's visit and Farage has not been on the network to discuss his meeting despite being a paid contributor to the network since January. According to an analysis by Media Matters, the only time Farage’s name showed up on Fox News on March 9 was during live coverage of the daily press briefing when press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about Farage’s meeting:
VIVIAN SALAMA (AP REPORTER): Thank you. And second thing is, Nigel Ffarage was at the Ecuadorian embassy in London today where Julian Assange happens to be staying. Don't know if they met or not. Was he there? He's a close ally of President Trump. Was he there in any capacity?
SEAN SPICER: I don't keep his schedule.
SALAMA: Was he delivering a message?
SPICER: I have no idea. I have my own concerns here keeping track of what everyone is doing. I generally don't worry about what's going on across the pond. Jonathan?
SALAMA: You already gave me a little bit, but just to follow up --
SPICER: Wow. All right.
JONATHAN KARL (ABC CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT): But on the -- the question is not what but can you tell us he wasn't there on behalf of the white house?
SPICER: Sure. I don't -- he is not -- I am not. This is silly. I don't think asking where random foreign leaders are and whether they are there -- I'm sure he was there doing whatever on I understand that. But I. Don't keep his schedule.
Even after the press briefing, Fox News continued to ignore the story on their website, Twitter, and cable networks.