Fox News’ Shepard Smith said Tuesday that he would not play a YouTube video of President-elect Donald Trump laying out his agenda on air, saying Fox News had a policy against showing such statements where journalists hadn’t been been allowed to ask questions.
In his discussion of the video, which Trump released Monday afternoon to outline several plans for his first 100 days in office, Smith put it in the context of several other statements from the President-elect and his team that have come out since it was released, all of which offered news consumers varying interpretations of what actions Trump actually plans to take as President.
Smith first focused on a “Morning Joe” report that Trump would not seek to prosecute Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. That was a reversal from his pledge during the presidential campaign to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton. Then, Smith continued, the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman tweeted that Trump said in a meeting with the paper that he would not take the possibility of an investigation “off the table.”
“Anything you want to happen to Secretary Clinton on any of those matters is now available to you, almost officially, almost from the now President-elect’s mouth. But we have all of them. So whichever one you like, you may have it,” he said.
The same applies to climate change, he continued: Trump had previously said that it was a hoax. But Haberman tweeted that Trump told Times brass “there is some connectivity” between human beings and climate change.
“Which could make it not a hoax, so if that’s what you prefer, that is also now available to you,” he said.
Then, Smith turned to the so-called “alt-right,” which has become a euphemism for white nationalism. Trump’s former CEO and now chief strategist, Steve Bannon, ran a website that he bragged was “the platform for the alt-right,” but Trump told the assembled Times reporters that he did not “want to energize the group.”
“All of those positions are now available,” Smith said.
Trump’s YouTube video, Smith implied, followed a similar pattern: It made no mention of marquee campaign trail promises like building a wall on the Mexican border or repealing Obamacare, but it did highlight more middle-of-the-road proposals like “creating jobs and cutting regulation.”
Watch below:
that man is on the wrong network. #betterthanburnett
Smith’s take is basically correct. The problem with asking Trump about his thoughts or positions on various matters is that he has none; that he will say whatever he thinks will work for the time being; and that the only information is you’re getting is what Trump has said. You get a word salad served on a particular occasion.
“White Nationalism”?
Can TPM please just say Neo Nazis?
It’s not that hard.
I guess Fox didn’t get the message yesterday. Apparently CBS DID
While I applaud this statement, I find myself going back to the same thought:
“How is this a surprise to anyone?”