Fox News' Two Step: Playing Noble While Pandering To The Base
I didn't watch the Bernie Sanders town hall on Fox last night, but he's getting good reviews for it, like this one, from Politico:
Bernie Sanders entered the Fox's den on Monday night — and he not only survived the hourlong encounter, but often dominated.
Appearing at a Fox News-hosted town hall, smack in the middle of Trump Country, the Democratic presidential front-runner played the part, swatting down tough questions from the hosts about health care, defense spending and his newfound wealth. At one point, the Vermont senator even led the network’s audience in a call-and-response that found them cheering loudly for his policies.
But as The Washington Post's Philip Bump tells us, after the town hall, Fox went on the attack.
After Sanders completed his closing statement ... the heavy machinery of Fox News swung into motion as the network transitioned into [Martha] MacCallum’s nightly show.
MacCallum interviewed the network's politics editor, Chris Stirewalt. The two discussed the focus of a number of the anchors' questions: How Sanders would pay for his proposals. They agreed that it was a weak spot in his rhetoric.
MacCallum then spoke with two guests, economist Art Laffer and businessman Andy Puzder....