‘The Risk Was Real’: Fox Hosts Ignore Own Reporters To Falsely Suggest Biden Air Raid Sirens Were Faked

Fox News hosts and contributors baselessly suggested air raid sirens during President Joe Biden’s trip to Ukraine were staged — ignoring Fox News reporters who said the opposite.

President Biden made a surprise visit to Ukraine Monday to mark the anniversary of the war against Russia, a trip that included a dramatic moment when air raid sirens sounded as Biden and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walked the streets of Kyiv.

Several Fox hosts and contributors took shots of varying degrees at that moment, with Pete Hegseth nodding along when a contributor called it a “stunt” and Jesse Watters describing the sirens as a needless “soundtrack” to the visit.

But it was Tucker Carlson who put the finest point on it by referencing a 14-second CNN clip to claim, falsely, that the presidents walked the streets amid “Potemkin air raid sirens”:

TUCKER CARLSON: Note the air raid sirens in the background. What’s strange is there didn’t seem to be any air raids in Kyiv this morning. We checked. There were just air raid sirens at precisely the moment that Joe Biden appeared for a photo op. Even CNN’s reporters on the ground in Kyiv know that they’ve been in the city for the past five days and didn’t hear any bombs or missile strikes or any sirens until the moment that Biden walked out for the cameras.

CNN’S ALEX MARQUARDT (VIDEO CLIP): I’ve been here for the past five days. I have not heard any explosions. I have not heard any air sirens until about half an hour ago, right when President Biden was in the center of Kyiv.

TUCKER CARLSON: Right. So, here you have Potemkin air raid sirens, just the touch required in this, the most tightly scripted, most completely dishonest war in history

But Carlson and his colleagues ignored some important context in order to make their claim. For example, Marquardt referenced his colleague Clarissa Ward in his reporting, who offered the relevant facts that the sirens are “a fairly common occurrence” and were, in this case, prompted by an identifiable threat:

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They spent about five minutes in there, just before they exited the church, we could hear the air raid sirens beginning to wail again. That was allegedly due to MiG activity over Belarus. It’s a fairly common occurrence, but certainly, not so common or a little more nerve-racking, let’s say, when the president of the United States makes an announced visit to Kyiv.

Carlson, Hegseth, and Watters didn’t need to turn on CNN, though. At varying points Monday, Fox News foreign correspondent Steve Harrigan reported on the MiG activity, and described the very “real” risk President Biden faced, and Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich called it a “risky trip” as she introduced Harrigan’s reporting.

Fox & Friends Monday morning:

STEVE HARRIGAN: Later, he went to St Michael’s monastery behind me. The two men walked in for a while. As they came out, air raid sirens were sounded throughout the city of Kyiv. Kyiv has been hit a number of times by rocket attacks. This air raid siren might have been set off by a Russian MiG fighter jet taking off from Belarus. The White House has said, though, that Russia was informed about this visit beforehand.

America Reports Monday afternoon:

JACQUI HEINRICH: The president’s risky trip to this war zone was shrouded in secrecy for security purposes. Air raid sirens sounded above as President Biden toured the streets of Kyiv.

…

BILL HEMMER: To chief international correspondent Steve Harrigan. It is nightfall in Kyiv and that’s where we begin. How dangerous was this trip for the president?

STEVE HARRIGAN: Bill, this city is still part of an active war zone. Air raid sirens go off, things explode, buildings get hit and people get killed here. So I’ve got to tell you, this morning, when we saw President Biden and Zelensky walk in that monastery behind me and the air raid sirens started to go off, it was really unsettling to see. They came out with no problem. There was no sign of any destruction. But unlike previous US presidential visits to war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, this is a place where the US does not have troops on the ground, does not have control of the sky. So I think the risk was real there.

Watch above via Fox News.