From the May 16 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:
Watch Mike Huckabee's Anti-Media Meltdown As He Tries To Defend Trump's Revealing Classified Information to Russia
Fox News Contributor Mike Huckabee: “They Take What Is On It's Face Untrue, They Report It As Something That It Isn't And They Pretend That They Can Celebrate Journalism.”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
SHANNON BREAM (CO-HOST): Ok, so we know after this meeting, apparently notes of the meeting were shared, at least the reporting is, with a number of National Security Council officials, and somebody flagged that there may have been an issue. The report is they tried to put this out, a fire they saw maybe looming, but it also tells us -- this isn't just about the people who were in the room. There were other people that had this information, potentially that could have leaked it to The Washington Post. What does the president do about these constant leaks?
MIKE HUCKABEE: He's got to stop them. Somebody in the administration -- and I don't know if it's somebody he appointed. Most likely it's holdovers, it's career bureaucrats who hate Donald Trump almost as much as the news media, but that would be impossible. But somebody is doing everything they can to undermine the presidency. Forget that it's Donald Trump. This is an undermining of the office of the president and therefore really it's an undermining of the integrity of our government. Everyone in that room, Shannon, said that this did not happen. Every single person goes on camera, whether it's Dina Powell, Rex Tillerson, General McMaster -- they all said, “It's a lie.” Donald Trump comes out, says, “I didn't give out anything that wasn't in public.” And you know what the media is reporting? That Trump confirmed that he gave out classified information and he most certainly has not confirmed that. This is -- it's the most stunning thing I've ever seen when it comes to the media. They take what is on its face untrue, they report it as something that it isn't and they pretend that they can celebrate journalism. It's frightening to our country and to the republic when you have this much disinformation and misinformation being shared by people who pretend they're journalists.
BREAM: Well, and you mentioned that there are a lot of posts that are still open, or the fact that there are still a number of career people and holdovers here. And so there is some criticism of the White House and of the president that he hasn't plugged in more of his own people. There's a dispute on the Hill about who is to blame for that, Democrats or Republicans. But the fact is, they need more names put forward by the president so they can fill these agencies with people he believes will share his agenda and be loyal to him.
HUCKABEE: Well, I think at this point the president has to understand that it's better to have some empty offices and empty desks than it is to have some empty-headed, empty suits who continue to show up for work for the sole purpose of undermining the presidency and trying to create issues that simply don't exist. He needs to take a vacuum cleaner. Get one of those really high-powered models and just suck the living heck out of a lot of these offices in D.C. with the political appointees, who are the holdovers and just get rid of them. He cannot trust them, he must not trust them, and they're doing great damage to the country. Forget that they're doing damage to the presidency and to this president. They're doing damage to the country. And the sad thing is, the media is lapping it up like wild dogs would be lapping up bloody red meat on their dish, and they need to show some level of responsibility and they're not. They're going with anonymous sources even though every single person who is a true source, who was actually in the room, says what they're reporting simply did not happen.
BREAM: I want to play a sound bite for you, from Alan Dershowitz, obviously a well-respected legal mind. This is how he is characterizing what The Washington Post has alleged about the president.
[START CLIP]
ALAN DERSHOWITZ: Everything else is off the table. This is the most serious charge ever made against a sitting president of the United States. Let's not underestimate it.
[END CLIP]
BREAM: Governor, I can think about a number of bad things that have been alleged about a number of presidents. Is this the worst ever?
HUCKABEE: No, it isn't. First of all, the president has said he didn't give out information that wasn't already in the public domain. That's been confirmed by the people in that meeting. His highest, most trusted people. Secondly, if, in fact, he was sharing information with the Russians that was publicly obtainable in order to create a better security environment, let's remember the Russians had an airplane shot out of the sky over Egypt, then it was in the interest of national security. But I don't believe for a moment that he gave away classified information. Here is what I don't understand. Why wasn't the media that upset when Hillary Clinton had illegal servers in her home that were likely hacked by the Russians -- how come the press wasn't as upset when the Russians, or Wikileaks or whoever, hacked into the DNC and spilled out all the secrets? Where was the outrage? Where was the outrage? This is why people hate the press. They don't trust the media. The media still doesn't get it. They keep sucking air out of their own little paper sacks because they don't understand why there is zero support out there in the middle of America for them. And they sit around their own tables looking at each other and thinking they think they're important and they're becoming less important every day because of ridiculous reporting like this.
Previously:
Fox News Downplayed Trump Revealing Classified Info, Focused On These Other Stories Instead
Hannity Ducks Trump Disclosure Of Classified Info By Repeating “Alt-Right” Smear Pushed By Fake News
Fox & Friends Hosts Beg Trump To Call In To “Get His Side Out” On Sharing Classified Info