Fox's Tomi Lahren apologizes for smearing Kamala Harris after colleagues shame her
But Fox News has regularly used sexist attacks against progressives and Democrats.
Fox host Tomi Lahren was forced to publicly apologize to Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) on Thursday after widespread criticism of her sexist attack against the Democratic presidential candidate.
During the Democratic debate on Wednesday night, Lahren accused Harris of sleeping her way to the top in a tweet.
Kamala did you fight for ideals or did you sleep your way to the top with Willie Brown?
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) August 1, 2019
Thousands of people criticized the smear and responded to Lahren. Even some of her fellow employees at Fox News shamed her for the attack.
After first mounting a limp defense of her claim, Lahren eventually relented.
“I apologize for my comment on Kamala’s personal relationship. It was the wrong choice of words,” Lahren wrote. “There are many other things to take her to task for and I will stick to those.”
Lahren has previously used a similar line of attack against Harris.
“Lahren accused Harris of ‘using an extramarital affair to boost her political career’ and ‘dating [her] way to the top’ during the January 29 edition of Final Thoughts, her weekday afternoon program on Fox’s streaming service,” Media Matters for America reported.
The program aired on Fox’s little-seen Fox Nation streaming service, which may explain why it did not receive the widespread ridicule that Lahren’s tweet did.
Lahren has a track record of outrageous comments, which is the network’s stock-in-trade.
She defended Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly when he said immigrants are “not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society,” and she insisted Trump could not be impeached because “he won the election.”
The apology is unusual for the right-wing propaganda network, which has prided itself on promoting the Republican Party and leaders like Trump. Trump regularly live-tweets Fox News and promotes its adulatory praise of his unpopular presidency.
The usual pattern of Fox is to double-down on its lies and to even promote the figures on the network who spread ridiculous falsehoods.
“Tomi Lahren is a professional troll who routinely advances the most disgusting smears that she plucked from the darkest corners of the internet,” Julie Millican, vice president at Media Matters, told Shareblue Media.
“Her only talent is advancing sexist and racist attacks under the guise of being ‘provocative’, which is exactly what Fox News wants from her.”
“Despite her hollow apology and anonymous protestations from her colleagues, Fox News has no problems with Lahren’s advancement of such trash. In fact, I suspect they relish in it.”
Fox News is a hub of sexism and smears, designed to attack progressives and Democrats around the clock.
Lahren got caught, shamed, and had to retreat, but the drumbeat of dishonesty at Fox will continue on.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
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