Parade of Lies: Fox News Turns Brutality into Bragging Rights
- Blue State Threads
- Jun 19
- 4 min read
Fox News lies: A bubble built on spin
Turn on Fox and you will not hear that a federal judge ruled Trump’s seizure of California’s National Guard illegal and ordered troops returned to Governor Newsom’s control. On air, the story became a debate about “states hampering border security” with hosts hinting the appeals court may side with Trump anyway. The network framed a constitutional breach as tough leadership.
When Trump’s 79th birthday parade limped down Pennsylvania Avenue with patchy sidewalks and bored spectators, Fox ran tight crowd-angle loops and declared a “massive patriotic turnout.” A side-by-side clip comparing PBS’s wide shot to Fox’s selective framing revealed the stark difference in attendance, but the audio was genuine. Viewers who trust one channel walked away convinced that the capital roared for their king.
No Kings protest? Fox calls it a flop
Tens of thousands marched against authoritarian flags on June 14, chanting “No Kings” as Trump saluted tanks. Fox chose three angles: a short clip tucked inside a live parade package, a web piece headlined “What to Know About Today’s ‘No Kings’ Rallies” that framed the event as performative hand-wringing, and an opinion column mocking union leader Randi Weingarten’s “meltdown”. Primetime hosts declared the protest a “dud,” citing D.C. police crowd estimates that no other outlet could verify. Fox pushed the narrative further, calling the Army parade proof of “unifying patriotism” and tagging demonstrators as “left-wing radicals.” Reality check: Reuters photos show Lafayette Square packed curb to curb while parade bleachers sat half empty.
Immigrant vilification on repeat
Fox scrolls splash graphics labeling migrants “thugs” and “gangsters,” cherry-picking anecdotal crimes to smear entire shelters. (Look at this bullshit). Hosts hammer the myth that undocumented people commit more violence, ignoring Department of Justice stats that show lower crime rates among immigrants than native-born citizens. Meanwhile, Florida’s 2025 agreements empowering state troopers, wildlife officers, and even the State Guard to carry out ICE deportation duties get praise as a “smart push for law and order” (more bullshit). No mention that the same policy threatens long-time residents still stuck in paperwork limbo because of federal backlogs. Fox pundits yell “get in line” while cheering a rule book that yanks the line away.
Fox packages every crackdown as a common-sense defense even when courts, doctors, and economists wave red flags.
Engineered for Ignorance
Fox thrives on an audience that rarely cross-checks what it hears. A 2023 Fairleigh Dickinson news-literacy survey ranked Fox viewers last among major outlets in factual knowledge, behind even those who consume no news at all. Pew Research Center data show that only 18 percent of Fox’s prime-time audience holds a bachelor’s degree, compared with 41 percent for PBS and 35 percent for CNN. Less education does not equal low intelligence, but it makes viewers easier marks for cherry-picked statistics, scare graphics, and emotional rants. Fox executives know this. Internal strategy memos leaked in the Smartmatic case warn producers to “respect the audience’s gut,” a polite way to say: keep stories simple, skip context, feed the outrage. A network that counts on its viewers staying uninformed will never admit when reality contradicts the script.
When the truth threatens, Fox deletes
Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion lawsuit keeps revealing internal trickery, including allegations that executives wiped damning texts after subpoenas. Fox retaliated by accusing the voting-tech firm of destroying its own evidence, a claim every other network treated with skepticism. Fox viewers only heard the counter-accusation, never the judge’s irritation at possible spoliation.
Why it’s lethal
Gaslighting breaks the ability to recognize danger. Parade lies train an audience to ignore empty streets and trust a narrator over their own eyes. Protest smears turn fellow citizens into enemies. Immigrant demonization paves the moral runway for mass removals. Combine those with court defiance, and you have a soft-focus march toward authoritarian power.
Gas-lighting in real time
Selective highlight – Any court win for Trump loops for hours. Losses flash once, wrapped in caveats.
Outrage pivot – Hosts steer from legal facts to culture-war bait. A ruling on National Guard power morphs into a rant about “elite coastal mayors.”
Victory spin – Even economic red lights get painted green. A Fox op-ed last week claimed tariffs boost “small-business optimism” while independent polls show new layoffs in farm equipment plants.
History’s warning siren
Scholars compare Fox’s current role to early state broadcasters in Hungary and Venezuela, where one outlet fed ruling-party narratives until opposition voices lost reach. The Murdoch empire is not officially state media, yet GOP politicians quote its chyrons in Senate hearings. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth even hinted he might ignore a court order on the Los Angeles deployment, echoing talking points about “activist judges.” When military leaders test defiance on camera, the slide from soft propaganda to hard authoritarianism speeds up.
What breaks the spell
Screenshot the receipts – Post Fox headlines beside independent coverage. Visual contrast pierces the bubble faster than lectures.
Target the money – Call out brands funding shows that romanticize court defiance. Dominion’s settlement proved that dollars talk.
Boost local journalism – Regional outlets still report National Guard mobilizations and tariff layoffs. Share their work with neighbors lost in prime-time echo chambers.
Vote in the weeds – School boards, state supreme courts, utility commissions. Authoritarians thrive when those seats go uncontested.
Wear the pushback. Our “No Kings” collection is the perfect well to tell Trump to go f*ck himself. 30% of profits aid immigrant legal-defense funds and protest-safety trainings. Gear up for the next march and photograph every gap Fox refuses to air.
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