Fox News’s Outnumbered Trashes Clinton Foundation Over News NY AG is Suing Trump Foundation
On Outnumbered on Fox News Thursday, the panel discussed the news that broke earlier that the New York Attorney General is suing the Trump Foundation. So naturally, the Clinton Foundation was mentioned eight times in the five minute segment.
Host Kennedy started the segment outlining the lawsuit, calling it a “gift’, and askE the pertinent question “Are these New York state political axes being ground or is there something to this that could ultimately damage the president?”
CPAC Chair Matt Schlapp was the first to answer, obviously going with the axe-grinding answer.
“The point is this, it’s just, when these liberals just keep going after Trump – he already has a special counsel for almost every moment of his presidency, the democrats don’t want to support his agenda items, even those that are popular,” he began. “Now you have the New York Attorney General going after the Clinton Foundation. By the way, I had to talk about it over and over again throughout the campaign. Enough is enough. Even the people, even the ones who aren’t that political –”
At that point co-host Harris Faulkner interrupted to correct Schlapp. “You mean the Trump Foundation,” she said.
“I’m sorry, yes. I always love to talk about the Clinton Foundation,” he replied. “That was a slip of the tongue.”
That’s when host Kennedy shifted the focus of the question to a comparison between the two. The setup was, in her typical style, quick but well-executed.
“So let’s talk about the contrast between the Trump Foundation and the Clinton Foundation. The Clintons had a brilliant money laundering scheme in the Clinton Foundation. And it’s no surprise that any other politician would want to do the exact same thing and concentrate money and power,” she said.
“But now the cat is out of the bag,” she added. “So because no misdoing was pinned to the Clinton Foundation formally, are they now going to go after the Trump foundation?”
This may seem like diverting from the specific lawsuit, or even “whataboutism” by some standards, but it’s objectively a fantastic question. Analysis, which is what Kennedy does, requires that you look into something from multiple angles. This comparison not only informs, it gets the Trump-friendly Fox audience thinking of the charges against the Trump foundation as something serious, not merely “fake news.”
It’s already a “known” on the right that the Clinton Foundation was a corrupt enterprise. Kennedy evokes that known and then ties it to the Trump Foundation, suggesting he is deliberately emulating their money-laundering. She blasts both families and both foundations in a matter of seconds.
Fox Contributor Lisa Boothe and Fox Business host Elizabeth MacDonald both weigh in on the merits, and unlike Schlapp, take the case seriously.
“These are really serious charges,” said MacDonald. “This is a scathing rebuke of a sitting president and his foundation.”
“Your points are well-taken about the Clinton Foundation, the disparity there.” MacDonald added. Also true.
Schlapp wrapped up by once again referring to the serious charges, which have been under investigation for years, as merely politics.
“It is interesting when you talk about the Clinton Foundation. Who is investigating them and all their wrong doing?” he asked. “I mean the fact is, is this. Which is all of this is political in the end.”
“It’s all a political — if you want to call it witch hunt or whatever. It’s just this nonstop attack on the president.”
Schlapp’s advice is to not investigate or prosecute any wrongdoing because the voting base of the party of law and order don’t care for it.
Watch above, via Fox News.
[featured image via screengrab]
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