Fox News' Hannity & Colmes has featured organizers and supporters of The Minuteman Project on six separate shows in the past two weeks, but has provided virtually no opportunity for opponents of the initiative to offer their views. President Bush described the group on March 23 as “vigilantes” for their efforts to “police” the U.S.-Mexico border.
Aside from some critical questioning of Minuteman supporters by co-host Alan Colmes, the only presentation of an opposing view since April 5 was a brief audio clip from a U.S. Border Patrol officer, who criticized the group for impeding the Border Patrol's efforts to prevent illegal border crossings. By contrast, Minuteman organizers James Gilchrist and Chris Simcox have appeared on Hannity & Colmes a total of seven times. Reps. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), and Trent Franks (R-AZ) have also appeared in support of the group.
Program date
Minuteman project supporters
Opposing viewpoints
April 5
James Gilchrist, Minuteman organizer
April 7
Chris Simcox, Minuteman organizer
April 8
Simcox
(Clip) Michael Nicely, chief of U.S. Border Patrol in Tucson, Arizona
April 11
Gilchrist
April 13
Gilchrist
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO)
April 18
Gilchrist
Simcox
Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ)