A Fox News Chyron Appears to Refer to President Biden as “Wannabe Dictator”
During a bipartisan holiday event held at the White House on Tuesday, Fox News aired footage of President Joe Biden’s speech alongside former President Donald Trump speaking from his golf club in Bedminster, NJ. However, the news broadcaster made a different statement under their split-screen broadcast that said “Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested.”
While it didn’t directly mention President Biden by name, the chyron was an apparent reference to him.
The segment aired toward the end of the prime-time show, “Fox News Tonight,” where the term “wannabe dictator” was unusually strong for the network, which allegedly had a friendly relationship with the former Trump administration but has been critical of the current one.
However, Brian Kilmeade, the host of “Fox News Tonight,” went further and referred to Donald Trump as the “president of the United States” before he began speaking at his New Jersey club.
Representatives for Fox News have yet to release any official comments on the matter since the chyron incident.
Major TV Networks Refuse to Broadcast Trump’s Speeches Live
Since the 2020 election, other major television networks have declined to air Trump’s speeches live out of concern about possible misinformation. CNN hosted a town hall with Trump in May 2021, which many observers criticized as being irresponsible.
In contrast, Fox News has occasionally cut away or refused to broadcast Trump’s speeches, but on some occasions like this, they have still given those speeches prime-time slots.
Regardless, on the same day Fox News airs its controversial chyron, Donald J. Trump became the first former president to be charged with federal crimes. He pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to handling classified documents after he left office and his refusal to return them.
Later on Tuesday, after President Joe Biden delivered remarks during a White House reception for American diplomats, he did not respond to any questions about Trump’s latest court appearance.
In conclusion, the chyron at the bottom of Fox News’s broadcast can be seen as another example of how their commentary takes perception over objective news reporting. It adds more fuel to the debate over the perceived bias in one of America’s major news broadcasting networks.
