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Fox Hosts Reject Reality On Crime, Inflation, Energy And Migration

Fox Hosts Reject Reality On Crime, Inflation, Energy And Migration

In recent weeks, multiple Fox personalities have been in denial of objective reality that under the Biden-Harris administration, especially in recent months, violent crime has declined, inflation is steadily declining, oil and natural gas production are at record highs, and unauthorized border crossings have plummeted.

Statistics show violent crime dropped since 2021, but Fox is claiming the opposite

On September 23, the FBI released its annual crime statistics estimates, which showed a three percent decline in violent crime nationwide, including an 11.6 percent drop in “murder and non-negligent manslaughter.” These statistics were widely reported, and The New York Times noted that this continues a pattern of declining murder rates under the Biden-Harris administration, with the decline in murders showing “the largest year-to-year decline since national record-keeping began in 1960.”

Yet Fox, which spent more than half the year running nearly 1,000 weekday segments on the bogus “migrant crime” narrative, has denied these statistics showing a drop in violent crime.

  • Fox News anchor Dana Perino: “So much for crime being down.” Perino, reacting to a chaotic video from Philadelphia, suggested it was evidence that statistics showing a drop in crime were not reflective of reality. Fox host Greg Gutfeld claimed, “The statistics that the FBI uses aren't taken seriously because they’re limited. They don't pass the smell test.” [Fox News, The Five, 9/24/24]
  • Fox host Harris Faulkner confusingly suggested that statistics may not show a decrease in violent crime — immediately after acknowledging that they do. On her program, Faulkner said: “So crime down — what about violent crime? Because that’s the part that is changing people’s lives.” Moments prior to this, Faulkner said: “The White House is praising new FBI statistics which indicate violent crime is down across the nation. However, the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics have some numbers that tell a very different story.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 9/24/24]
  • Fox host Jeanine Pirro falsely claimed there has been an “increase in crime” and that Vice President Kamala Harris is responsible for it. [Fox News, The Five, 9/24/24]

Inflation has plummeted from its peak in 2022, yet Fox claims it's at “record highs”

Multiple measures of inflation have plummeted since their mid-2022 peak. Both the consumer price index and the personal consumption expenditures price index measures show 2.5 percent inflation — near the Federal Reserve’s two percent PCE target — and the producer price index measure shows a lower 1.7 percent. The improving inflation picture has at last galvanized the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, much to Fox’s displeasure. Yet Fox continues to cover inflation in a misleading manner, falsely claiming that it is currently at “record highs.”

  • Fox host Jesse Watters falsely claimed “inflation [is] at record highs.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 9/24/24]
  • Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt: “The truth is, inflation is high. That’s why prices are up.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/20/24]
  • Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo: Harris lacks a “plan to take inflation down because she doesn’t have an understanding of what took us to 40-year highs.” Prior to Bartiromo saying this, her program aired a graphic showing the annual CPI inflation measurement declining significantly from its peak of 9.1 percent more than two years ago to its current level of 2.5 percent. [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 9/20/24]

Data shows record oil and natural gas production over past two years, but Fox denies it

American energy production is experiencing record highs under the Biden-Harris administration. In addition, the U.S. is on track to be the world’s leading exporter of liquefied natural gas for the second year in a row and is the largest supplier of LNG to Europe. In 2023, U.S. crude oil production, at an average of 12.9 million barrels per day, surpassed the record set in 2019, and the Energy Information Administration has forecasted a new record of 13.25 million barrels per day this year.

  • Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade: “We’re not” leading in natural gas and oil production. Kilmeade continued: “Don't let anybody tell you our oil and gas production is high.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/25/24]
  • Kilmeade falsely claimed there was double the daily production of oil under Trump compared to the Biden-Harris administration. Kilmeade said: “When she talked about there’s more oil production under us than under you, she’s wrong. It was 4 million barrels a day under Trump. It was 2 million barrels under Biden-Harris. So, that's totally inaccurate.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/13/24]

Far fewer unauthorized border crossings, yet Fox uses legal immigration data to disprove it

Report after report has shown that unauthorized border crossings in the Southwest have plummeted in recent months compared to previous years in the Biden-Harris administration. Even Fox News reported a huge drop in apprehensions at the border.

Yet Fox continues to challenge the data showing a huge drop in unauthorized border crossings by insisting that the number of people using the administration’s programs to entice immigrants to enter legally should be added to border crossing numbers. This denial of reality and goalpost shifting bears similarities to the rhetoric of Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, who has been purposefully referring to authorized migrants as “illegal aliens” after stirring up hate against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, with false smears.

  • Fox correspondent Bill Melugin: Data showing “illegal crossings … have been down significantly” is “not a true reflection of the amount of people who are being allowed into the country.” Melugin suggested that data showing unauthorized border crossings plummeting in 2024 isn’t genuine, citing programs from the Biden-Harris administration to increase legal immigration. [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 9/17/24]
  • Fox host Laura Ingraham: Harris can only claim “our numbers are down” for unauthorized border crossings because immigrants are “coming through the ports of entry” legally and “bringing in people under ‘legal’ cover … from four countries.” Melugin added: “We’re talking, like, 70,000 to 80,000 people per month between these two programs that come into the U.S. quote-unquote ‘lawfully,’ and they never get counted in the border numbers now. They’re not illegal crossings, so they don't show up in Border Patrol numbers. So yeah, those numbers have fallen off a cliff, but if you look at the port-of-entry numbers, those numbers are skyrocketing. They’re bringing tens of thousands of people in every single month via these lawful programs, and it’s been effective at pushing those illegal crossings down.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 9/9/24]
  • Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy decried legal immigration programs: The administration “can artificially keep their numbers low and pretend that they're actually doing something on the border when, in fact, they're doing the opposite. They’re increasing them.” Campos-Duffy cited Fox contributor and former Trump administration Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan to claim that legal immigration programs enacted by the Biden-Harris administration are “in place to change the numbers so those people … are not counted in the illegal crossings.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 8/31/24]

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Biden's Mastery Of Global Oil Markets May Be His Biggest Coup

Biden's Mastery Of Global Oil Markets May Be His Biggest Coup

In the last two years, President Joe Biden grabbed the oil markets by the throat and shook them. He’s not just lowered the price that Americans are paying for gas as they head out on summer vacation, he has sent a shockwave of fear through OPEC leaders like Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It’s something that everyone thought was impossible. Biden lifted a threat that loomed over the nation for over 50 years, severely weakened America’s enemies, revealed a new realm in which the U.S. holds unprecedented strength, benefited the average consumer, and turned a profit all at the same time.

And that achievement is getting next to no attention.

The final year of Trump’s term in the White House was an almost immeasurable disaster. His mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic created an economic crash, bringing on a recession and the highest unemployment rate since the Great Depression. In this uncertain environment, oil prices plummeted. To shore up profits for U.S. oil producers, Trump went to Saudi Arabia and demanded they cut production in an effort to keep oil prices up.

Bin Salman, facing a falling global market, was happy to give Trump what he wanted. In the last full year of Trump, oil production fell by 8%. Prices remained low in the following months because demand was low, but the capacity of the system—both to produce oil and refine it into products like gasoline—were severely constrained.

The world was set up for a shortage when the economy recovered from Trump’s abuse. And that’s exactly what happened. The recovery that began after Biden took office saw oil prices rise sharply as renewed demand outpaced supply.

In 2022, Biden went to Saudi Arabia and asked Trump’s friend bin Salman to delay planned production cuts to help lower oil prices. Bin Salman refused. Prices had doubled in a year, and as long as supply could be held below demand, they would only keep going up. The need to sanction Russia after their invasion of Ukraine only made the situation worse. For bin Salman, it must have seemed like a great time to snub U.S. requests.

But Biden didn’t come home and sulk. Instead, he started on a plan to end the threat that OPEC has represented since it nearly destroyed the U.S. economy in the 1970s. By the end of 2023, the results of that plan were becoming clear, as this Wall Street Journal article headlined “Meet America’s Newest Oil-Trader Extraordinaire: Joe Biden” reported.

President Biden’s unprecedented release of oil from America’s petroleum reserves in 2022 turned the White House into an unusually active player in the volatile crude market. The flood of emergency supplies helped arrest surging oil prices after Russia invaded Ukraine, and pulled billions of dollars into the Energy Department’s coffers in the process.

What Biden seems to understand better than anyone before him—in or out of the White House—is that the U.S. is both the world’s largest oil producer and has the largest readily available reserves. That combination means that Biden can move the market by pushing out a significant mass of oil from the reserves, and have enough control over the market to actually refill those reserves at a profit.

In a May 2024 article titled “Joe Biden, Master Oil Trader,” The Economist took up the theme:

Joe Biden also seems to have a knack for the oil trade. Two years ago his administration initiated the largest ever sell-off from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (spr), an emergency store of crude oil, to counteract price surges caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. Back then, dwindling stocks left observers twitchy. What if there was another shock to the system? So far, however, Mr Biden has got away with the gamble.

Biden has more than gotten away with it. He’s turned the strategic reserve into a source of revenue, a tool for giving the economy a boost, and a diplomatic lever that can be used to bludgeon enemies without even waking up the military. Even right-wing outlets have been forced to admit Biden’s mastery of this issue.

This is a master class in recognizing potential and finding a new approach. It has largely defanged a threat that’s hung over the nation for decades and signals that nations that have long gotten away with hideous records on everything from human rights violations to grotesque murders need no longer be indulged just because they have oil.

All of this would have been worth a considerable investment of U.S. dollars. Instead, Biden’s shrewd handling of the market is set to add half a billion dollars to the treasury.

Biden’s moves have also been good for U.S. oil companies, who have enjoyed record production and record profits. Trump wants oil execs to give him a billion-dollar bribe. Biden gave them a 160% increase in profits.

But they’re sure to support Trump. Because not everyone is as smart and adaptable as Joe Biden.

Hopium Chronicles' Simon Rosenberg joins Markos to discuss the “red wave-ification” of the economy and how prepared Democrats are for November. There is still work to do but we have a better candidate—and we have the edge.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Britain's New Energy Minister Is An '18th-Century'  Climate Denier

Britain's New Energy Minister Is An '18th-Century'  Climate Denier

On Tuesday, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a U.K. Brexit minister of 12 years who is loyal to both Boris Johnson and new Prime Minister Liz Truss, got a fancy new title. Rees-Mogg will serve under Truss as the secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy. This is terrible news for anyone concerned about the climate crisis given Rees-Mogg has made his money as an oil and coal mining investor. He’s supportive of fracking, drilling for fossil fuels until the North Sea is tapped, and has frequently misconstrued climate science to suit his needs. His position may prove no different as Rees-Mogg is expected to once again work on his own betterment instead of the planet’s.

The Guardian offers a comprehensive writeup on the many ways that Rees-Mogg, who’s known as “the honorable gentleman from the 18th century,” will fail to meet the moment. Rees-Mogg’s nickname comes from his sartorial choices, though his devotion to fossil fuels certainly has an antiquated quality to it, as does his history of slamming IPCC reports and disinterest in reaching net zero. Though the U.K. has drastically slashed its emissions over the years—thanks, in part, to Rees-Mogg’s predecessor—it will be that much harder for the country to continue its course toward net zero if the person charged with leading that fight has no desire to even engage in it.

Greenpeace UK slammed the decision to appoint Rees-Mogg. “Rees-Mogg is the last person who should be in charge of the energy brief, at the worst possible moment,” Greenpeace UK Politics Head Rebecca Newsom told Bloomberg. “This will either be a massive own goal for Truss’s efforts to tackle the cost of living crisis or Rees-Mogg will have to do the steepest learning curve in history as he gets to grips with the issues facing our country.”

With the U.K. as a signee of the Paris Agreement and COP27 on the horizon, it’s anyone’s guess how obstructionist of a role Rees-Mogg may play in negotiations at the November conference. Nearly 200 countries will work to address a crisis that has only grown more pressing. It will certainly be a major change given that the last United Nations Climate Change Conference took place in Glasgow, where local leaders looked to position themselves as leaders in reaching net zero goals. But that’s simply not something Rees-Mogg is interested in, and that spells disaster for not just the U.K. but the entire planet.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

Those High Gas Prices Aren’t Stopping Summer Traffic

Those High Gas Prices Aren’t Stopping Summer Traffic

It's easy to find people who say gas prices will keep them from driving. They're on the roads.

That is an early hint that the "crisis" of high prices at the pump is less dramatic than the testimonials make it. And if history is any guide, it is temporary.

Florida is seeing a record number of tourists. They are driving, and they are flying in, having bought air tickets made extra expensive by the high cost of jet fuel. The Transportation Security Administration, which oversees airport security, expects travel this season to match or even exceed the pre-pandemic levels.

And Florida is surely not alone. Las Vegas tourism is reportedly back to near pre-pandemic levels. In Colorado, the Automobile Association of America expects driving over the Fourth of July weekend to be up about 8% over a year before. Never mind that the national average for a gallon of regular is $1.86 higher than it was in July 2021.

A recent Longwoods International Travel Sentiment study has two-thirds of American drivers saying that higher gas prices would factor into their decision about traveling the next six months. But only 6% of those surveyed said they are actually canceling trips because of it.


And so what gives? It could be that Americans, driven by pent-up demand for post-pandemic travel, are just willing to dig deeper into their funds to keep the tank filled. It could it be that they are driving more fuel-efficient vehicles and thus buying fewer gallons of gas to begin with. It could be that the "record-high price of gas" we keep hearing about is not actually a record high.

It could be all the above.

To some extent, consumers make choices as to how much gasoline they buy. Consider the woman in Reno, Nevada, who worried on CNN that high gas prices might deprive her 3-year-old daughter of a visit with family.

"There's so much my daughter has lost out on," she said, referring to the COVID-19 shutdowns. "And there's a feeling again as a parent that I'm going to have to be limited about what I can offer."

It's true that pump prices in Nevada are among the highest, but we do decide how far to live from family. The Reno woman has a car, unlike the very poor, and looked solidly middle-class. She ought to know that cheap gas is not an entitlement. And living far from family is ultimately her decision.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, many workers moved away from metro areas for bigger houses and more land. Their choice. If that meant they had to drive more, well, that belonged in their calculations. For many, the ability to work from home saved on commuting costs. But also for many, there was the strong possibility that they may have to return to an office. And it's never wise to assume that those travel expenses won't go up at times.

We should not underestimate the power of more fuel-efficient vehicles to relieve "pain at the pump." Mileage has been improving for decades, with electric vehicles an absolute game changer. Ford's current high-class problem is keeping up with calls for its electric vehicles, particularly the Mustang Mach-E EV and the electric version of its F-series trucks.

A sophisticated analysis of today's gas prices would note that the national average for a gallon of regular now stands at about $5.01. Adjusted for inflation, the price for that gallon in 2008 (then $4.11) would have been $5.37.

Demand for gasoline keeps rising. But so apparently is demand for space on the roads. Moan about high gas prices, if you must. The traffic doesn't seem to have noticed.

Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

Reprinted with permission from Creators.

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