While US President Donald Trump intentionally and directly incited the recent attack on the Capitol, he does not bear sole responsibility. Every one of his enablers is guilty – including the bankers and politicians who have managed to remain largely in the shadows.
WASHINGTON, DC – Since January 6, when a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol, dozens of rioters have been charged with crimes. Trump, who incited the insurrection, has now been booted from all major social-media platforms, and faces the prospect of another impeachment trial, while many Republican senators and representatives have faced harsh criticism for backing Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud.
Many of the guiltiest parties, however, are getting off scot-free. It is no secret, for example, that Fox News – the most lucrative lever in Rupert Murdoch’s American media machine – helped set the stage for the Capitol insurrection. Since its founding in the 1990s, its divisive rhetoric and for-profit manipulation of facts (or alternative facts, in former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway’s infamous phrase) have been distorting American political discourse and deepening polarization. And, since Trump emerged on the political scene, it has gleefully amplified (and inspired) his lies.
While Fox News did defy Trump by acknowledging Joe Biden’s victory in last November’s election, it remains committed to sustaining and expanding the fantasy world in which the Capitol rioters live. Indeed, the network’s hosts, contributors, and guests have spent the last week defending the violence and promoting baseless conspiracy theories.
WASHINGTON, DC – Since January 6, when a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol, dozens of rioters have been charged with crimes. Trump, who incited the insurrection, has now been booted from all major social-media platforms, and faces the prospect of another impeachment trial, while many Republican senators and representatives have faced harsh criticism for backing Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud.
Many of the guiltiest parties, however, are getting off scot-free. It is no secret, for example, that Fox News – the most lucrative lever in Rupert Murdoch’s American media machine – helped set the stage for the Capitol insurrection. Since its founding in the 1990s, its divisive rhetoric and for-profit manipulation of facts (or alternative facts, in former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway’s infamous phrase) have been distorting American political discourse and deepening polarization. And, since Trump emerged on the political scene, it has gleefully amplified (and inspired) his lies.
While Fox News did defy Trump by acknowledging Joe Biden’s victory in last November’s election, it remains committed to sustaining and expanding the fantasy world in which the Capitol rioters live. Indeed, the network’s hosts, contributors, and guests have spent the last week defending the violence and promoting baseless conspiracy theories.