'Ask Mike Pence how that worked': Ex-DOJ official warns Fox of dangers of cozying to Trump
A former FBI official and an ex-Justice Department official cautioned Fox News that Donald Trump won't help or save their network and pointed to a hefty lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems as a prime example.
The segment on Nicole Wallace's "Deadline White House" followed one about a racist conspiracy theory about Springfield, Ohio, experiencing pet disappearances due to Haitian immigrants. Trump has perpetuated the story by promoting it at the debate to an audience of over 70 million.
According to Frank Figliuzzi, former assistant director for counterintelligence, it comes down to money and losing their audience, and as it stands, that isn't happening outside of the lawsuits.
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"But you raised a really important key point here, which is something we see throughout the terrorism world and throughout cults, which is if you demonize the other — and in this case, the other is the mainstream media, people who are credible journalists," said Figliuzzi. "You demonize them, you can't listen to anybody else but Fox News or far-right platforms, then people will never see sunshine."
He recalled Fox's debate coverage, which is how Wallace began the segment. When Joe Biden had a bad debate night, it was part of the media story for weeks. After Trump flopped, however, one anchor was willing to say that he had a bad night, and the rest sang his praises.
Those soundbites "legitimize" Fox because they can point to those statements and claim they're giving both sides, he said.
"So, what's the model? This all comes down to money and access to Donald Trump now and if he wins. They're covering their rear ends to continue their access," said Figliuzzi.
Wallace said Trump won't spare them just as he led a channel switch over to Newsmax. She called it "foolish and short-sighted."
"I mean, they're three dominion lawsuits away from oblivion," she said.
Former top Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on Robert Mueller's special counsel team, explained that Trump has "power, money, and the threat of actual violence."
"Those are all tools to have people stay quiet and be complicit with what's going on," said Weissmann. "And that is a — there is a long model of autocrats who do that. There are people who think ... we can, sort of, back that horse and he'll treat us well later, which is a fool's errand. Ask Mike Pence how that worked."
See the video below or at the link here.
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