Courtesy of Bastrop Advertiser
Aug. 19, 2021
By Joni Ashbrook
Fox News repeatedly spewed former President Donald Trump’s “big lie” about election fraud, angering its viewers and helping propel far-right extremist groups to try to stop the certification of electors for President Joe Biden.
One of those insurrectionists, Anthony Antonio, is now facing federal crimes. His attorney argued that Antonio became ill after getting hooked on Fox News and “started believing what was being fed to him” giving him a case of “Foxitis.”
Antonio said he watched an officer plead for help as six men dragged him down the Capitol steps. That was apparently D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone who suffered a heart attack and traumatic brain injury after being tased several times. Antonio now regrets not helping Fanone.
But Fox News shows no remorse for stoking the anger that led to violence against those officers who fought for hours preventing the MAGA mob from possibly kidnapping or killing elected officials and upending our democracy.
“Foxitis” is a virus that spreads disinformation rapidly and it depends on “hosts” to infect the public. In order for these hosts to be successful, they must lack common decency and have the ability to shamelessly lie.
Sadly, not even the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and the suicide deaths of four other officers after the coup have weaken some Fox hosts’ unscrupulous traits.
Police officers who fought Trump’s mob testified to the House Select Committee, which is investigating the Jan.6 attack. But Fox couldn’t allow their damning, gut-wrenching testimony to infect their viewers with the truth, so Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham mocked them, including Fanone.
Since Jan. 6, Fox has made shameful attempts to rewrite history. It tried claiming the rioters were Antifa, or called the insurrection a “peaceful protest,” and claimed the FBI orchestrated the assault on the Capitol.
“Foxitis” has infected many aspects of our society. Just as we seemed to be nearing the end of the coronavirus pandemic, the delta variant began causing hospitals to rapidly fill with unvaccinated patients.
Mississippi has the second-lowest vaccination rate in the country, and last week Dr. Alan Jones of the University of Mississippi Medical Center said the state’s hospital system is on the brink of “failure.”
COVID-19 cases in Texas are also skyrocketing, causing a shortage of ICU beds, and Texas Children’s Hospital is alarmed by having 45 COVID-19 infected children.
There are many reasons why some people are vaccine hesitant, but these vaccines have been proven safe and effective at keeping people out of the hospital and from dying. Unfortunately, that message from trusted health experts won’t be shared on Fox News.
According to Media Matters, Fox undermined vaccination efforts in 60% of its vaccine-related segments from June 28 through July 11.
The most urgent crisis facing us today is climate change, but unfortunately “Foxitis” has disastrously infected that issue as well.
Last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its sixth report. Fox invited Marc Morano, one its favorite climate deniers, to undermine the report by ridiculously claiming it was just intended to “scare everyone.”
What should scare everyone is that 234 of the world’s climate scientists wrote the IPCC report that constitutes a “code red for humanity.”
What should appall everyone is that Morano has no scientific expertise in this area, according to Desmog, a blog that focuses on climate change issues, and he’s the communications director for a conservative think tank that has received funding from Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Yet, he’s repeatedly allowed to spew debunked, dangerous nonsense on Fox.
“Foxitis” is like the coronavirus, if left unchecked it will spread causing more mutations that could be even more dangerous: enter One America News and Newsmax.
Ashbrook is a contributing columnist for the Advertiser. She is a retired school teacher and may be reached at [email protected].
