On the June 5 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, Fox News host John Gibson said he was putting one of his “groups of enemies on notice” after receiving a “demand[] for a retraction” from Media Matters for America. Gibson said that “they are complaining that I said something about them which isn't true, which was that, basically, it was a front for [Sen.] Hillary [Rodham Clinton (D-NY)].” As Media Matters noted, Gibson falsely stated on his June 1 radio show that Media Matters was “invented” and “funded” by “the Hillary Clinton campaign.”
Gibson also claimed that Media Matters has been “taking money from the Tides Foundation, which is a George Soros-funded operation. Over a short period of years, got $3.5 million, and they spend all their time now attacking anybody who breathes a word about not liking Hillary.” As previously indicated, Soros has never given money to Media Matters, either directly or through another organization. As Media Matters documented when Fox News host Bill O'Reilly falsely suggested that Soros funded Media Matters through the Tides Foundation, Soros' Open Society Institute's donations to Tides were all designated for specific programs, and Media Matters was not included on this list.
Gibson did not retract his false statement. Instead, he said he enjoys this “good little fight.”
From the June 5 edition of Fox News Radio's The John Gibson Show:
GIBSON: We're going to start off with -- I have to put one of our groups of enemies on notice. I have not given up the fight. Angry Rich, you really ticked them off the other day.
ANGRY RICH (executive producer): Well, that's just too bad, isn't it?
GIBSON: Yeah, it is just too bad. Think Progress and Media Matters are now complaining -- well, Media Matters is --
AUDIO CLIP: “A boastful, passionate, whispering, masculine kind of love.”
GIBSON: Ooh, you think? That's an interesting observation from Bob. They're -- they are complaining that I said something about them which isn't true, which was that, basically, it was a front for Hillary.
AUDIO CLIP: “It's super fabulous!”
GIBSON: Now, they -- today, Chrissy, you got one of those --
CHRISTINE (associate producer): I did.
GIBSON: -- demands for a retraction, didn't you?
CHRISTINE: Yes, I did. I got a call and an email today.
GIBSON: Angry Rick, for the audience who doesn't know or care --
ANGRY RICH: Right.
GIBSON: -- what Media Matters is, would you explain it?
ANGRY RICH: It's a far-left website that tries to get people like you thrown off the air.
GIBSON: And what has been their theme over the last two or three weeks, especially?
ANGRY RICH: Anybody that says anything bad about Hillary --
GIBSON: Ah.
ANGRY RICH: -- ends up on their site.
GIBSON: And I see. And they attack anybody who might say anything bad about Hillary.
ANGRY RICH: Yeah, I wonder why.
GIBSON: Well, you know, the -- I know they're listening. Media Matters was founded in the offices of John Podesta, a Hillary apparatchik. They have been taking money from the Tides Foundation, which is a George Soros-funded operation. Over a short period of years, got $3.5 million, and they spend all their time now attacking anybody who breathes a word about not liking Hillary.
I don't know why they don't like me. I have been quite -- I praised Hillary, haven't I? I've said I have confidence that if she were president, she'd bomb somebody --
AUDIO CLIP: (singing) “Hillary Clinton is a man.”
GIBSON: -- and I'm looking for the next president to bomb somebody.
ANGRY RICH: You've been very supportive.
GIBSON: I don't want that Obama “kumbaya” stuff. I want -- I'd still want an aggressive war on terror president. Hillary's trying to hide it from her far-left base right now, but I know the real Hillary. Not that I'd vote for her, but if she became president, I wouldn't, like, move to Canada, like Alec Baldwin, you know. Well, I might.
ANGRY RICH: So, they're on notice now.
GIBSON: I hope they're on notice.
AUDIO CLIP: “I'm super! Thanks for asking.”
GIBSON: I mean, they're, you know, they -- I half-think bathtub boy put them up to it, 'cause he's --
ANGRY RICH: He does his entire show based upon whatever's on the website.
GIBSON: Yeah, he just takes scripts from the Media Matters website and then, you know, he -- I attack him so he doesn't feel like attacking me. Or I didn't attack him, I just threw an elbow at him -- so he gets Media Matters to do it. Anyway, this matters little to all of you out there because it's sort of inside baseball stuff, but it's what I deal with all day. You know, in this world, if you've got Fox in front of your name --
ANGRY RICH: Bull's-eye right on that back.
GIBSON: Just bring a knife to work, you're going to need it. They're going to be coming over the balustrades trying to get you, and you're going to have to defend yourself. And, I'm more -- I like it. It's a good little fight.
ANGRY RICH: It's a nice catharsis for you --
GIBSON: Yeah, it is.
ANGRY RICH: -- what's happening right now. Sure.
GIBSON: Thirty-two years sitting here doing this stuff -- you know what? -- every once in a while you like to say, “Well, let's throw some elbows. Let's just -- what the heck?”