Fox News abruptly cuts off impeachment manager during testimony
NEW YORK (AP) â Fox News Channel cut off an impeachment manager in mid-sentence Wednesday as he was presenting dramatic video footage of the mob attacking the U.S. Capitol last month and government leaders running for safety.
âThe political math doesnât add up,â Foxâs Jesse Watters said. âDemocrats donât have the votes, yet theyâre still pressing ahead.â
The incident was a dramatic illustration of the tightrope walked by programmers at television networks that appeal to fans of former President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial.
Fox, along with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC, had been covering House managers outlining their case against Trump live for nearly five hours Wednesday. While sometimes dry and methodical, the presentation reached an emotional climax when California Rep. Eric Swalwell showed graphic video, much of it not seen before.
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Thatâs when Fox cut things off, shortly after 5 p.m. Eastern, when the network started its commentary show âThe Five.â
âThis is all emotional, political theater,â said cohost Greg Gutfeld, one of four commentators to speak against impeachment before an exasperated Juan Williams was given a chance to talk.
âIâm kind of shocked,â Williams said. âI want you guys to come back. Come back, join the conversation. Pay attention to the news.â
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Williams described the case that House managers were building as chilling and an important exercise in democracy. âThe impeachment trial that youâre all ignoring, I guess youâre afraid ...â
At that point, he was shouted down by Watters and Gutfeld.
âYouâre being so rude because Iâm so right,â Williams said.
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A Fox News spokeswoman had no comment on the programming choice.
A few minutes later, as Swalwell was showing body camera footage of a Capitol police officer being attacked by a demonstrator with an American flag, the Fox panelists were debating President Joe Bidenâs COVID vaccine rollout. At Newsmax, a Republican congressman was being interviewed about the 2022 midterm elections.
Meanwhile, ABCâs George Stephanopoulos and NBCâs Kasie Hunt seemed visibly shaken by what theyâd seen. NBC Newsâ Lester Holt called it âemotionally wrenching.â
âIt almost dares members of the Senate not to vote for impeachment,â Holt said.
For the networks that appeal to a conservative audience, the trial isnât exactly must-see television. For its first day Tuesday, MSNBCâs coverage was seen by 2.87 million people, CNNâs audience was 2.66 million and Fox News had 1.95 million, the Nielsen company said.
Foxâs most popular personality, Tucker Carlson, said he didnât watch any of the trialâs first day.
âAt this point, honestly, who cares?â Carlson said. âImpeachment? The whole thing is ridiculous. Theyâre literally impeaching a president who isnât the president anymore. Theyâre yelling at somebody who has already left the room.â
Yet Fox devoted much of its daytime hours to it, and even returned to the trial after âThe Fiveâ on Wednesday. Newsmax, after silencing the opening of Wednesdayâs session to talk about a rebranding of Aunt Jemima food products, showed much of the afternoon session, as did One America News Network.
During breaks in the trial, they addressed the Trump fans in their audience.
âWe will continue to bring you live coverage of the impeachment trial here on One America News,â anchor Jennifer Franco said. âMeantime, despite endless lies and attacks from Democrats and the mainstream media, former President Trump fought hard for the country over the past four years.â
She introduced a two-minute film that paired flattering clips of Trump in office with a narrator reading the Rudyard Kipling poem, âIf,â which opens with the line, âIf you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you.â
It was followed by a segment on whether the âBiden honeymoonâ with Congress was over.
During the trialâs first afternoon break, Fox turned to Trump spokesman Jason Miller, who denounced the Democratsâ case. He said he was on the phone with his boss minutes earlier.
Newsmaxâs Bob Sellers had his own review of the proceedings.
âIt does seem drawn-out, a little overdone,â he said.