A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.
New York (CNN Business)A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.
When I saw Sean Hannity leading his show with “MORE VIOLENCE GRIPS PORTLAND” and scary video from the streets, I knew something was up.
Right-wing media ramped up its coverage of scattered unrest in Portland, Oregon last week at roughly the same time that federal officers descended on the downtown area. Hannity and other Fox hosts evidently decided that a small group of self-described anarchists suddenly deserved national news coverage.
One cynical way to see it: The Trump administration and Fox’s talk shows picked Portland as a new stage for Trump’s “Law and Order” show. Programs like “Fox & Friends” had been prioritizing urban violence over the Covid-19 crisis for several weeks; Portland was just the latest news peg.
Late last week and throughout the weekend, Fox’s banners presented a simple choice: “LAW & ORDER VS ANARCHY.” Trump officials used the same rhetoric to justify the response from federal authorities. “Law and Order — a cornerstone of American society — is under siege in Portland,” Mark Morgan of U. S. Customs and Border Protection tweeted Sunday.
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A show of force for Fox’s TV shows?
In an interview on Sunday’s “Reliable Sources” broadcast, The Atlantic staff writer Anne Applebaum suggested that the use of federal force in Portland is “performative authoritarianism.”
The goal, in part, is to generate TV pictures for pro-Trump shows like “Fox & Friends,” she said.
