Fox News Host Bill Hemmer Questions Shutdown’s Impact on TSA: ‘I Flew Across the Country’ Easily

Fox News host Bill Hemmer questioned media reports on the shutdown negatively impacting the TSA, saying on America’s Newsroom today that he recently “flew across the country” and it was “easy going.”

“[The] opinion of the shutdown — this is what [a Fox News poll] found,” Hemmer began, after Fox News commentator Marie Harf pointed to data showing the majority of Americans consider the shutdown more pressing than border issues.

“Has the experience been a hardship for your family? 66% say none,” he continued. “About 20% say moderate.”

Reports have shown the TSA has been particularly impacted by the Washington gridlock, as some of the agency’s 51,000 furloughed employees have gone to drastic measures to survive the shutdown, such as living in their car and rationing vital medicine, per Business Insider. Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson even called for a general TSA strike to end the shutdown.

Hemmer then used a personal anecdote about his recent flights to suggest those reports are hyperbolic.

“I know there are reporters at the airports talking about the TSA, I flew across the country and back again,” the Fox News host said. “I did not have a single problem. It was easy going.”

He continued:

“I’m not suggesting it’s not right. I’m saying the poll shows 2/3rds of the American people say it hasn’t been a hardship. If that’s the case, Tom. Trying to get a sense about how or where the parameters of a shutdown are and what the true impact is on people outside of Washington, D.C.”

Hemmer then hedged by adding “I’m not suggesting it’s not right.”

He is correct in the specifics of the Fox News poll, but another way to interpret those results is that one in three Americans are experiencing hardship as a result of the shutdown. In other words, he sees the glass as two-thirds full, not one-third empty.

Watch above, via Fox News.

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