MSNBC’s Alex Wagner asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday if the Biden administration considers Fox News a news organization. That prompted a thoughtful response, at least at first. (See the video below.)
But the analysis offered a light-hearted exchange in which Wagner concluded with a wry smile: “So, I would say that the White House does not consider Fox a news organization, but we should leave it there. .” They both laughed.
Wagner has referred to Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s “whitewashing” of the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising — most recently via cherry-picked Capitol security videos showing ordinary moments during the attack. He pointed to President Joe Biden’s firm response to the conservatives’ cancellation of the event, noting that 140 officers were injured in riot violence that Carlson and some extremist Republicans tried to downplay as innocent tourism.
“Does the White House consider Fox News a news organization?” Wagner asked Jean-Pierre.
Jean-Pierre responded that the court deposition showed that Fox News “does not see Tucker Carlson’s show as news or even honest. That came from Fox leadership, not from me. That came from them.”
The judge, in a 2020 defamation ruling against Fox News, ruled that the “general tenor” of Carlson’s show should alert viewers that the TV personality “does not ‘state the real facts’ about the topics discussed and instead engages in ‘exaggeration. ‘ and ‘non-literal comments .’” Viewers should be skeptical, the judge added.
Documents released in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News appear to reinforce that point, showing that Carlson and other primetime personalities privately mocked Donald Trump’s 2020 election while promoting it on TV.
To legitimize Carlson’s latest round of denials about the severity of the Capitol siege, Jean-Pierre said:
“This is an attack on democracy. It’s an attack on our Constitution and you can’t whitewash that. Tucker Carlson can’t whitewash that. Anyone who doesn’t see with their own eyes what’s going on can’t see it. So, the president will stand with police officers, he will stand up for the truth. And clearly, that’s not what Tucker Carlson believes.
That’s when Wagner tried to sum up Jean-Pierre’s answer, with both of them giggling at the MSNBC host’s conclusion.