Twitter Drags Fox News for Suggesting Mueller’s Investigation is an Anti-Trump ‘Coup in America’
“Inflammatory. Baseless. Dangerous.â€
Fox News is drawing criticism for suggesting that an anti-Donald Trump “coup†is underway in Washington with Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
“The investigation into Donald Trump’s campaign has been crooked from the jump,†Jesse Watters said on Fox News Saturday. “But the scary part is we may now have proof the investigation was weaponized to destroy his presidency for partisan political purposes and to disenfranchise millions of American voters.â€
“Now, if that’s true,†he continued, “we have a coup on our hands in America.â€
As Mediaite noted, the choice on Watters’ part to label the investigation as a “coup†was soon followed by a chyron reading “A Coup in America?†during his interview with Kellyanne Conway.
“The fix was in against Donald Trump from the beginning,†Conway began their interview. You can watch below:
.@KellyannePolls: “The fix was in against @realDonaldTrump from the beginning, and they were pro-Hillary… They can’t possibly be seen as objective or transparent or even-handed or fair.” @WattersWorld pic.twitter.com/WIB3aS4KhC
— Fox News (@FoxNews) December 17, 2017
Twitter was quick to condemn Fox’s use of the word:
Dear @FoxNews: The difference between Russia and the US is that in America, no one is above the law. That concept is not called a “coup,” it’s called “the rule of law.” https://t.co/UZ5tHwOaen
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) December 17, 2017
Coup?! I cover wars. Militaries. Actual coups. Where citizens violently rise up and kill each other for power over each other.
This is alarmingly irresponsible language, even for Fox. Inflammatory. Baseless. Dangerous. https://t.co/1tGrKZGfTR
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) December 17, 2017
For months Trump associates, fringe sites, and Fox News have cultivated this fiction that any investigation into Trump’s crimes is an attempt at a coup. They’re undermining democracy and risking widespread tragedy. https://t.co/IK1OBzRPuj
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) December 17, 2017
Yeah — if you wanna know how things can go from already pretty nuts to “f*cking batsh*t crazy OMFG” nuts via applied coup created for TV consumption, just take a look at Turkey.
And remember Dugin was sitting in Ankara during the “coup”. Among other data points. https://t.co/BU1A1WXJhB— Molly McKew (@MollyMcKew) December 17, 2017
In a proper coup, the first thing you do is seize state television broadcasting studios so you can put out the new party line and people know what’s what. https://t.co/QYwTmBVpJm
— Subscribe to My Newsletter (@mattyglesias) December 17, 2017
The same people saying that nothing Mueller has done amounts to anything think that some pissed off private texts from an FBI agent means that the Deep State coup is underway.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 17, 2017
“A coup in America?†This is incredibly irresponsible rhetoric. It’s no surprise that the same network that still denies Russian interference for Trump, also uses this kind of language to describe law enforcement efforts to uphold the law and our sovereignty. https://t.co/VUilAaAhAD
— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 17, 2017
Pizzagate, as silly as it was, led to violence. Imagine what the gun-nuts will do with the Fox Mothership telling them there’s a coup d’etat under way, and with republicans in congress and Trump’s own White House backing them up. Republicans are playing a very dangerous game. pic.twitter.com/s9Ak2kFHxU
— John Aravosis (@aravosis) December 17, 2017
I’ve interviewed coup plotters, torture victims, generals, politicians they toppled & dozens whose lives were destroyed by actual coups & coup attempts
This language is so dangerous for democracy—and it’s precisely what you see before purges (which Fox News hosts are advocating) pic.twitter.com/CAFvAZaNUj
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) December 17, 2017
Use of the word “coup” by @FoxNews after Russia has deliberately worked to destabilize US democracy is extremely irresponsible and should be roundly condemned.
— Ron Nehring (@RonNehring) December 17, 2017
I’m an academic studying coups. This is embarrassing and dangerous. There is no coup in America, but there is a de-facto state propaganda outlet named Fox News. pic.twitter.com/Rtg37N84ZC
— Marcel Dirsus (@marceldirsus) December 17, 2017
This is the latest troll push, although I would be shocked if any of them actually knew what a coup was. (Heads up: they are using it everywhere-in comments for protest sign-ups, on twitter, it’s the new one) #Resist https://t.co/xlLS4Q9XcE
— Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) December 17, 2017
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