Fox Segment Ends Abruptly When Cohost Warns Of Trump’s COVID Relief Failure

By NewsHound Ellen — August 13, 2020

Just as cohost Dagen McDowell poked holes in Fox’s picture of Donald Trump as COVID relief-package superhero, swooping in to save struggling Americans while Congress deadlocked, suddenly the segment was all out of time.

As Yahoo News pointed out, Americans could face a long wait for the COVID economic relief Trump promised in his executive order.

But cohost Kennedy, with the assistance of Bret Baier, tried to hang any and all problems on Congress. First, she “asked” Democratic cohost Marie Harf, “How vulnerable are some of these Democrats in swing districts whose constituents are not necessarily married to either party?” Then she wondered whether maybe Senate Republicans who “really don’t like this legislation” are “having a tougher time.”

Guest Bret Baier, the supposedly neutral anchor of Special Report, couldn’t have made the Trump campaign happier as he painted Dear Leader as the outsider you need to get things done in a dysfunctional Washington where Democrats are mostly to blame.

BAIER: I think we’re past the point where it's a pox on both your houses. The most things I hear - people emailing me and messaging me - is that both parties stink and that Washington is incapable of working on the big things. … You know, you can criticize the president for the executive order efforts and say that it’s unconstitutional, and it’ll be challenged in court, and you've heard that from both Democrats and people like Ben Sasse and Republicans, but from a political point of view, what he did is, he changed the dynamic.

So now the Democrats are saying they’re going to take him to court on these executive orders to provide checks from money that has been redistributed. Well, by doing that the onus, then, is on Democrats, to say, wait, where are you? Are you at the table or not? And it changed the whole political dynamic. I think both parties are in trouble if something big doesn't get through or at least something get through on Capitol Hill and I think that it's not a good sign for Washington.

Kennedy and cohost Gillian Turner helped amplify the message. “I think people are completely fed up and they’re so over this sort of leadership where all you are trying to do is hurt the other political party instead of doing what’s best for the country,” Kennedy said. Turner added, “I think the White House has long insisted that President Trump is doing this because he’s stepping up at a key moment for the American people to try and do what he can.”

But cohost Dagen McDowell, no liberal, had a different point of view.

MCDOWELL: I must point out the burden is on the administration at this point, because they’re out promising people are gonna start getting more money whether it’s in a payroll tax deferral and the extra unemployment benefits, $400 total, extra, down from 600. If that money doesn’t start coming out, that will hurt this administration and employers are not sure about how to defer those payroll taxes.

Harf started to say something to McDowell's point, which had been ignored up to now. But Kennedy interrupted, refusing to let her speak. “We have to go, unfortunately,” she said.

How convenient!

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