The Media Research Center just hates it when Fox News’ Shepard Smith fails to toe the right-wing line like the rest of the other Fox News hosts.
Note the freakout the MRC’s Nicholas Fondacaro had in a Feb. 16 post, which can only be described as Shepard Smith Derangement Syndrome:
Trump’s tongue lashing of the media had Fox News’ Shepard Smith frothing at the mouth with anger as he accused the President with a dubious smear during his show. “Your opposition was hacked and the Russians were responsible for it and your people were on the phone with Russia the same day it was happening and we’re fools asking the questions,” he shouted with claims no report had ever made.
“No, sir, we’re not fools for asking this question and we demand to know the answer to this question. You owe this to the American people,” Smith continued to yell. But no report had ever made the claim that Trump’s campaign staff was on the phone with Russian intelligence “the same day” the hacks were happening.
Un-ironically, Smith chastised the president for spewing “demonstrably, unquestionably, 100 percent, opinion aside, false” statements.
While we don’t know the details of the specific accusation Fondacaro claims Smith is making, we do know that, according to Reuters, Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser for a few weeks, held five phone calls with Russia’s ambassador to Washington on the day President Obama retaliated for Moscow’s interference in the presidential election. That may be what Smith was referring to.
How ironic that the MRC is demanding nothing but total fidelity to the facts from Smith while it’s bashing anyone who demands the same to Trump.
Fondacaro then goes on to serve up more hypocrisy by demanding something conservatives wouldn’t grant when it came to investigations into Hillary Clinton’s email server — wait for the FBI to finish their investigation:
True, [Trump and Russia] is an important issue that needs to be answered. But flying off the handle into hyperbole and spouting off lies does little to help the situation, and only serves to exacerbate tensions. The FBI is investigating their communications so there will be an answer to the press’s questions one way or another.
Of course, the MRC wouldn’t wait when it promoted the fake news before the election (courtesy of Smith’s Fox News co-worker, Bret Baier) that an FBI indictment of Hillary Clinton was imminent. The MRC had no problem flying off the handle into hyperbole and spouting off lies back then. And the MRC couldn’t stop ranting about how the FBI couldn’t be trusted after James Comey’s initial decision not to charge Clinton.
But now we’re supposed to trust the FBI on Trump and Russia. Funny how the MRC’s view of justice is driven not by facts but solely by politics.