Host of MSNBC 11th hour Stephanie Ruhle was not happy that Fox News called President Biden a liar in his State of the Union response, and to help her push back against this narrative, she welcomed professional Fox News anchor Juliet Jess to claim that Fox viewers are in a “cult.” “Deprogramming” is needed
Those scathing comments came after Ruehl asked why Jess thought what she did, “So, what you’re doing is interesting, obviously, to me and my audience, but to the Fox News audience. That right-wing audience, who are you trying to reach?
For Jesk, it’s not Fox viewers, but:
Friends, family, colleagues and colleagues who are already deeply enmeshed in Fox. Number one, prevent them from sucking. Helping them deal with someone with that cult mentality because I would call it a cult and helping them understand why their relatives and loved ones are saying these things and deprogramming someone. Underestimating them is a very difficult and lengthy situation to go through.
At the start of the segment, after going through the White House-Fox Super Bowl interview drama, Ruhl began the segment by portraying his show as a symbol of truthfulness, “Anyway, it’s not going to be on Fox News, which has spent the majority. Called the president a liar on his airtime this week. We like to say on the show that the truth is important, but only if you hear it. So, let’s set the record straight, despite what Fox viewers have heard on that network all week, President Biden has not lied about some select Republicans wanting to cut Medicare and Social Security.
Ruehl, who previously had no problem calling presidents liars, then welcomed Jess, who runs the podcast Decoding Fox NewsAnd asked “Juliet, a lot has happened in politics, especially in Fox World, the State of the Union, what was your biggest takeaway this week?”
Jess begins by proving a lot of contemporary fact-checking is really just opinion-checking, “Well, they’ve completely rewritten history with the State of the Union. They said Biden was a stupid idiot and couldn’t get through his speech.”
ignoring “Frisizanjabs” And for all of Biden’s whining, Zesk added “and he’s lied, as you said, about multiple Republican lawmakers wanting to cut or change Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare.”
Ruhl wanted to focus on that claim, “I mean, yesterday the president himself went to Florida and read about Rick Scott’s plan. So, explain to me how they push these lies to their audience? A, did they have a law and standards department? And B, like, what gives? Will their audience believe it?
Jaske then claimed Fox had “absolutely no shame. They will say whatever they have to to promote their agenda, and mostly by lying by omission, such as leaving stories out entirely.
Lying aside is exactly what Biden, Ruhle and Zesk did when they ignored that Republican leaders said cuts to those programs weren’t on the table.
This segment is sponsored by Volkswagen.
MSNBC The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhl
2/10/2023
11:20 PM ET
STEPHANIE RUHL: Either way, it won’t be on Fox News, which has spent much of its time this week calling the president a liar. We like to say on the show that the truth is important, but only if you hear it. So, let’s set the record straight, despite what Fox viewers have heard on that network all week, President Biden has not lied about some select Republicans wanting to cut Medicare and Social Security. I’d like to get into it with Juliet Jeske, the founder and creator Decoding Fox News Podcasts and newsletters. He sees the discussion, so we don’t have to. Juliet, a lot has happened in politics, especially in Fox World, the State of the Union, what was your biggest takeaway this week?
Juliet Jaske: Well, they completely rewrote history with the State of the Union. They said Biden was a stupid idiot and couldn’t get through his speech and he lied about, as you said, multiple Republican lawmakers wanting to cut or change Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare.
RUHULL: Like, let’s just stick with it because Fox keeps saying that Biden’s comments about these Republicans wanting to cut Social Security have been debunked. But it has not been debunked. I mean for the truth, yesterday, the president himself went to Florida and read, word for word, from Rick Scott’s plan.
So, explain to me how they push these lies to their audience? A, did they have a law and standards department? And B, like, what gives? Will their audience just believe this?
JS: Yes, they have no shame at all. They will say whatever they need to promote their agenda and mostly by lying, like leaving stories out entirely, the best I got this week, I believe it was Judge Jeanine, a senator, and she said it, like, a senator. Said he wanted to cut it, but he didn’t want to say it. Basically, you know, I’m explaining.
…
RUHEL: So, the work that you’re doing is interesting, obviously, to me and my audience, but also to that Fox News audience. That right-wing audience, who are you trying to reach?
JS: I’m trying to reach out to friends, family, colleagues and colleagues of people who are already deep into Fox. Number one, prevent them from sucking. Helping them deal with someone with that cult mentality because I would call it a cult and helping them understand why their relatives and loved ones are saying these things and deprogramming someone. Underestimating them is a very difficult and lengthy situation to go through. It’s slow. It’s very, very difficult, but one way you can do this is if you know your friend is being completely manipulated and lied to, that’s one step in contacting them.