Decoding Fox News (private feed for johnmclaughlin48@gmail.com)

Podcast #170 - One Big Beautiful Bonanza for the 1%

Last week as most Americans looked forward to an extended holiday weekend Fox News went into overdrive as it promoted and pushed Trump’s - One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). Since Trump created his massive budget reconciliation bill Fox News has spoken about it in vague and broad terms.No one at the network spent much energy discussing what was included in the legislation until it was in the final stages of gaining enough votes in the House and Senate. Once it was close to getting over the finish line the folks at Fox knew their job was to champion it at all costs.Even during the network’s three-hour Independence Day celebration Fox included extended segments about the success of OBBB. Most of what the Fox News audience learned about the legislation was inaccurate, misleading or downright false.In poll after poll the OBBB remained unpopular with most Americans across the political spectrum. Even several Republican lawmakers in both houses were concerned about the legislation yet all but a handful fell in line to vote for it when pressured by their glorious leader.The OBBB is a monster designed to inflict most of its damage after the midterm elections. As the poorest Americans lose SNAP benefits and Medicaid the wealthiest will have a few more dollars and the country will come closer to financial ruin. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast #169 - Fox News Hosts Laughed at Migrants Being Used as Alligator Bait

Last week on Fox News the network worked its audience into a frenzy of paranoia over possible secret Iranian sleeper cells while it celebrated the cruelty of a migrant detention center surrounded by alligators and pythons. As the network focused on fear and sadism it also lauded Donald J. Trump as the daddy of NATO.As a new detention center in Florida nicknamed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ was announced last week Fox News hosts couldn’t hide their excitement over the prospect of an undocumented immigrant being eaten by a giant reptile or suffocated by a enormous snake.Folks at Fox News might not have realized they were echoing a dark and sinister past in the American south when Black Americans were once used as actual bait for alligators according to researchers at the Jim Crow Museum. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast #168 - As Fox News Beats the Drums of War Trump Sinks in the Polls

Last week before Trump decided to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran Fox News was more than happy to encourage him to start a new war in the Middle East - something he vowed he would avoid during his 2024 presidential campaign.When Fox News hosts weren’t standing in front of maps of Iran or going over various animated displays of bunker busting bombs, they were downplaying anti-Trump protests, demonizing Democrats and ignoring the fact that their glorious leader’s approval rating was dropping in multiple polls.Traditionally the American public tends to sour on foreign wars quickly even if they were far more popular when they started. Fox News hosts seemed determined to sell Trump as a president dedicated to peace while pummeling Middle East countries with 30,000-pound bombs. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

BONUS Podcast - How Fox News Covered Trump's Decision to Bomb Iran

This podcast covers special weekend editions of shows that were added by Sean Hannity, Bret Baier and others to cover the U.S. military strikes on Iran. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast #167 - Trump TRIED REALLY HARD to Not Go to War with Iran

Last week as Fox News tried to hype up mostly peaceful protests against ICE raids across the country the network was hit with a giant asteroid of a story - one that was too big to ignore and incredibly hard to spin. Israel, seemingly frustrated with Trump’s lack of progress with a diplomatic solution, launched Operation Rising Lion and struck Iran’s nuclear sites.Iran immediately retaliated striking Israel. As of today 224 Iranians have perished along with 24 Israelis.Israel’s actions push the world dangerously close to an expanded global conflict. President Trump has made things worse by recklessly tweeting things that imply that the United States is prepared to enter a full scale war with Iran.Trump posted on social media for Iran’s "unconditional surrender" and said the U.S. knew where Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was located, but would not kill him, "for now.” In social media posts Trump has also used the pronoun ‘we’ when referring to the actions of the Israeli government. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe