Fox News' Megyn Kelly hosted Rep. Joe Wilson to attack the Obama campaign for calling out dishonest claims by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, contrasting the campaign's treatment of Romney with the backlash Wilson received following his infamous “you lie” outburst in 2009. But not once during the interview did Kelly try to ascertain whether the Obama campaign's assertions about Romney were true -- or examine Wilson's 2009 accusation that President Obama was lying.
In fact, many of Romney's claims during the October 3 debate were indeed false -- just as Wilson's charge was, as well.
On today's America Live, Kelly suggested that Obama and his team were “applying a different standard” to Romney than “they demanded” of Wilson and that “this liar, liar, liar theme” was working in part because their accusations weren't made on the floor of the House. She went on to suggest that there is a “double standard” in the way Obama wants to be treated and the way his team treats others.
Wilson agreed, dismissing his 2009 outburst as “spontaneous” and an example of him being “passionate about issues.” He went on to say that he later apologized for “interrupting.” Kelly simply referred to his accusation as a “breach of decorum.”
In September 2009, during Obama's health care address to a joint session of Congress, Wilson shouted “you lie” after Obama stated that it's false to claim that health care reform would insure undocumented immigrants. As PolitiFact noted, Wilson's statement was false.
Indeed, the Senate framework for the health reform law, on which Obama based his remarks, stated that “no illegal immigrants will benefit from the health care tax credits.” The final health care law clearly states that "[n]othing in this subtitle or the amendments made by this subtitle allows Federal payments, credits, or cost-sharing reductions for individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."
By contrast, many of Romney's statements during the presidential debate, were provably false. In fact, no less than seven claims by Romney were misleading or outright falsehoods -- and every single one could be traced to Fox News. Is it too much to ask of a purported “straight news” show doing a segment on dishonest claims to check the accuracy of those claims?
This is the second time in a week that Kelly tried to equate the Obama campaign's accurate and factual assertions about Romney's false claims with Wilson's false accusation.