Even Fox News has desperately tried to spin President Donald Trump’s latest war, failing miserably.
The self-declared “President of Peace” unleashed horror on Iran on Saturday morning, green-lighting a series of air strikes alongside Iran, ostensibly to protect America against a missile threat that experts and intelligence agree does not exist.
Enter Fox News, the vehemently pro-Trump channel, which, in seemingly trying to commend the president’s bold leadership, appeared to accidentally condemn the mission.
In its live blog covering the story, Fox described “Operation Epic Fury,” the American name for the joint strikes by the U.S. and Israel, as “brazen.” A quick dictionary search suggests the author of this entry is saying the president should feel shame about the operation. However, that is unlikely, given the network’s usual fealty to the 79-year-old president.
According to Merriam-Webster, ”brazen” means acting or done in a shocking, shameless, or impudent way, often marked by bold, rude confidence.
The Fox News live blog stated: “A U.S. official told Fox News that Israel is targeting Iranian leadership in its brazen morning attack against the regime, but the U.S. is setting its sights on military targets and ballistic missile sites that pose an ‘imminent threat.’”
Indeed, given the president’s previous comments regarding attacks on Iran, the decision to go ahead with Operation Epic Fury is quite brazen, if not a direct contradiction of the President’s years-long stance on the issue. On Saturday morning, the president admitted Americans will likely die in this war.
For years, Trump publicly claimed that a military attack on Iran would be tantamount to an inability to use diplomacy, a thinly-veiled attempt at electioneering, or an attempt from a president to “show how tough” they are.
“Our president will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate,” Trump said of President Barack Obama in November 2011. “He’s weak and he’s ineffective. So the only way he figures that he’s going to get re-elected, and as sure as you’re sitting there, is to start a war with Iran.”
“@BarackObama will attack Iran in order to get re-elected,” he said in a post on X, then called Twitter, the following January.
“Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin—watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate,” he added later that year.
It must be noted that Trump’s poll numbers are hitting record lows, and pressure is mounting on him ahead of the midterms in November. “Don’t let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected—be careful Republicans!” he warned in October 2012.
In September 2013, he said, “I predict that President Obama will at some point attack Iran in order to save face!”
Then, just a week later: “Remember what I previously said—Obama will someday attack Iran in order to show how tough he is.”
Two months on, in November, he was still banging on about it. “Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly-not skilled!” Trump said.
The president also heavily campaigned on “no new wars” during his 2024 presidential run.
Now, his message is quite different. “To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, and all of the police,” he said as he announced the strikes on Saturday morning, “lay down your arms or you will face certain death.”
The post Fox News Slams Trump’s ‘Brazen’ Attack on Iran appeared first on The Daily Beast.
