For months now, Fox News has circulated fear-mongering reports about the possibility of President Joe Biden ruining Christmas. But now the conservative network's talking heads appear to still be grasping at straws as the predictions of doom failed to materialize — and they refuse to give the president credit.
The Recount shared a supercut of Fox News clips predicting Christmas delivery nightmares and blaming Biden:
But
reports have shown that deliveries are actually moving swiftly to their destinations this year, leading the administration to take a victory lap.
"If people are getting gifts under the tree in time, that’s a good thing," Watters said. "If Biden deserves credit, I’ll give him credit. I don’t know if he deserves credit… but according to reports, things are a lot better than they were in November."
Despite saying he'd give Biden credit if he deserved it, Watters then speculated that other actors, such as consumers and ports, were responsible for fixing the problem.
Another panelist said, "It’s always interesting when a politician wants credit for doing their job."
One might plausibly argue that Biden himself and the White House didn't have much of a role in fixing the supply chain problems that people feared would thwart Christmas plans. But if that's correct, then it was arguably wrong to pre-emptively blame for potential issues that the president may indeed have little control over.
As the Fox News clip circulated on Twitter, users began weighing in and mocking the network for the apparent hypocrisies in their discussion.
On December 3, 2004, Fox News’ now-defunct The O’Reilly Factor debuted a recurring segment called “Christmas Under Siege.” Though Christmas was not and has never been “under siege” in any meaningful way, disgraced former host Bill O’Reilly and Fox were set on pushing this victimization narrative, laying the groundwork for what became known as the “War on Christmas.” In the 15 years since, onlookers watched the very concept of objective reality fracture along political lines. Consumers of conservative media drifted ever deeper into a world where a school’s nonexistent ban on red and green clothing became national news and paranoid delusions were freely floated about a future in which people may be prohibited from displaying Christmas decorations.
For 15 years, cable news Don Quixotes have battled these windmills, rejoicing in their victories and basking in their acts of bravery while warning their audiences to remain vigilant. Imaginary culture war issues like the War on Christmas make for good politics, as the people arguing that these are real issues can at any time simply dust off their hands, declare victory, and pat themselves on the back for a job well done. Like Lisa Simpson and her tiger-repelling rock, the protectors of Christmas are simply saving the holiday from nonexistent threats.
Deep down, they must know that there’s no actual “war” on Christmas, but it makes for good politics. Rather than having to address issues actually facing Americans -- such as health care, the economy, and climate change -- the fake battles in the fake War on Christmas give right-wing media a convenient way to manufacture divisions between the left and the right. The bombardment of misinformation playing up imaginary (or wildly overblown) examples of political correctness run amok are intended to scare and create a seeming sense of partisanship even on issues that are agreed upon nearly universally.
In a 2016 interview, Eric Trump explained why his father ran for president [emphasis added]:
He opens up the paper each morning and sees our nation’s leaders giving a hundred billion dollars to Iran, or he opens the paper and some new school district has just eliminated the ability for its students to say the Pledge of Allegiance, or some fire department in some town is ordered by the mayor to no longer fly the American flag on the back of a fire truck. Or, he sees the tree on the White House lawn has been renamed “holiday tree” instead of “Christmas tree.” I could go on and on for hours. Those are the very things that made my father run, and those are the very things he cares about.
Each of those claims is dubious at best, but the idea that the White House Christmas tree was renamed the “holiday tree” is flat-out false.
Claims That Christmas Traditions Are Threatened Date Back Nearly 100 Years
In 1921, industrialist and notorious anti-Semite Henry Ford published a piece decrying the secularization of Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter:
Last Christmas most people had a hard time finding Christmas cards that indicated in any way that Christmas commemorated Someone's Birth. Easter they will have the same difficulty in finding Easter cards that contain any suggestion that Easter commemorates a certain event. There will be rabbits and eggs and spring flowers, but a hint of the Resurrection will be hard to find.
Ford’s sentiment is quite similar to that of O’Reilly in 2004:
All over the country, Christmas is taking flak. In Denver this past weekend, no religious floats were permitted in the holiday parade there. In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg unveiled the holiday tree and no Christian Christmas symbols are allowed in the public schools. Federated Department Stores, [that's] Macy's, have done away with the Christmas greeting, “Merry Christmas.”
And to the claims in this piece from conservative columnist Jay Nordlinger in 2010:
Some have said, “You just can't find cards that say ‘Merry Christmas.’ It gets harder and harder.” I know. Kind of like trying to find products not made in China (for who's to say whether they come from laogai, the gulag?). I gave up on the China front long ago. Shameful, I know. But have you ever tried to buy an umbrella not made in China? Also, globalization has done wonders for the average Chinese, gulag or no gulag. Kind of a thorny, upsetting issue.
I gave up on the “Merry Christmas” front too, where cards are concerned. I just get a pretty card that says “Season’s Greetings” or “Whass Happenin' on the Holidays?” or whatever. Life's too short to hunt down “Merry Christmas.”
While O’Reilly’s frustrations were aired during an episode of The O’Reilly Factor and Nordlinger’s were published in the National Review, Ford’s came in the second volume of a collection titled The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem, hammering home what the War on Christmas was actually about for Ford: anti-Semitism and Christian supremacy.
In 1959, the right-wing John Birch Society published a pamphlet titled There Goes Christmas?! in which its authors argued that the United Nations and communists were trying to “take Christ out of Christmas.” In 2000, the white nationalist blog VDare published what’s thought to be the first online mention of the “War Against Christmas,” warning that Amazon’s use of the phrase “Happy Holidays” in an email was symbolic of “the struggle to abolish America.”
The out-groups supposedly responsible for attacking Christian traditions may have changed over the years, but from Ford to Fox, the backbone of the War on Christmas conspiracy theory has always been that of Christian nationalism.
With a series of lies, half-truths, and distortions, Fox News and other right-wing media figures have kept the Christmas culture war at the forefront of American politics for 15 years, maintaining a cache of examples they can pull from when they need to distract from an unfavorable news cycle. These stories are almost always framed around the idea that political correctness has gone too far and treat the issues brought up as though they are a development of recent decades.
2004:O’Reilly and other right-wing pundits falsely claim that a Washington grade school “banned” a production of A Christmas Carol. Fox Business host Lou Dobbs (then with CNN) claims that the words “Happy Holidays” “exclud[e] everyone who is celebrating Christmas.” Christian Broadcasting Network founder and host Pat Robertson tells people who don’t like Christmas to go to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, or Sudan. Conservative commentators attack Target for “banning” the Salvation Army from its stores when in fact the store was just enforcing existing policy. Then-MSNBC analyst Pat Buchanan claims that minor controversies around parade names or store greetings amount to “hate crimes against Christianity.”
2005:O’Reilly promises to “use all the power” he has “on radio and television to bring horror into the world of people” who “diminish and denigrate the [Christmas] holiday.” He baselessly suggests that former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry would have “abolished” Christmas as a federal holiday had he won the 2004 election, replacing it with “winter solstice or something.” He declares “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings” offensive to Christians before taking the exact opposite position next month, saying, “‘Happy Holidays’ is fine. Just don't ban ‘Merry Christmas.’” O’Reilly compares Catholic leaders’ silence over the War on Christmas to the church’s handling of its pedophilia scandal. He bizarrely claims that Martin Luther King, Jr. “would be appalled” by “the attacks on Christmas.” He also pushes Samuel Alito’s nomination to the Supreme Court, claiming that he’d be an ally in the fight to protect Christmas. The Fox host falsely claims that the U.S. Postal Service no longer offers stamps with a “spiritual” theme.
2006: In January, O’Reilly misleadingly claims that a Wisconsin elementary school changed the lyrics to “Silent Night” to be more politically correct during a 2005 Christmas performance. (The lyrics were from a Christmas play about a lonely tree lamenting its state to the tune of “Silent Night.”) O’Reilly claims that retailers Best Buy and Crate & Barrel are “still ordering their people not to say ‘Merry Christmas’” under threat of being fired, even though neither store had any such policy. Conservative radio host Bob Newman misleadingly claims that the American Civil Liberties Union was suing a Tennessee school over Christmas carols.
2009: Fox News plays up a fabricated controversy focused on the inclusion of three controversial ornaments on the Christmas tree in the White House’s Blue Room, when in fact those three ornaments -- out of 800 on the tree -- had been among hundreds donated by local organizations. Anti-Muslim bigot Pamela Geller says that the Senate holding a vote on Christmas Eve is “an act of treason and blasphemy.” Fox’s “straight news” hosts misrepresent a Boston school’s policy prohibiting the sale of religious items in its gift shop as proof of the War on Christmas.
2010: Fox & Friends claims that the city of Tulsa’s decision to host a “holiday parade” instead of a “Christmas parade” is a “topic of national controversy.” Fox host Sean Hannity demands “tolerance” from his Jewish guest after talking about this topic. Fox & Friends pushes a bogus story about a central Florida school banning “traditional Christmas colors.” National Review writer Jay Nordlinger lies about a lack of Christmas greeting cards. Fox’s website accuses the NBA of attacking Christmas by scheduling games on the holiday, seemingly oblivious to this long-standing tradition. Fox claims that it’s anti-Christmas for lawmakers to work during the final weeks of December.
2011: Then-Fox host Gretchen Carlson suggests that debate moderators ask 2012 presidential candidates “how important would it be for you to address the political correctness in our society” including the war on Christmas and warns, “Maybe Christmas won’t be a federal holiday coming up if it continues down this path.” Carlson speculates that it may soon be illegal for her to display Christmas decorations in her home. Hannity and other conservatives criticize the Obamas for having too many Christmas decorations. Fox contributor Tammy Bruce accuses Obama of “pandering to Muslims” and showing “contempt for Christianity” by implementing a “Christmas tree tax,” which actually originated through an industry-led program under the Bush administration and was levied to establish a marketing campaign promoting the sale of fresh Christmas trees. Then-Fox host Eric Bolling implies Obama favors Islam over Christianity while a sign in the background says “Obama’s War on Christmas.” O’Reilly devotes more time to the War on Christmas than he does to actual wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Right-wing media rage that a child made an ornament saying “I love President Obama” for an unofficial Capitol Christmas Tree that the Obama administration had zero involvement with. Dobbs and Tony Perkins say Rhode Island’s “holiday tree” is an assault on religion. Then-Fox host Alisyn Camerota promotes the War on Christmas narrative by falsely claiming that “you can’t call a Christmas tree a Christmas tree in Rhode Island.” An article on Fox Nation declares, “We’re Winning the War on Christmas.”
2012:Fox & Friends interviews a professional “Santa” about Christmas being under attack. O’Reilly agrees with a guest who says that the War on Christmas is the left’s attempt to advance abortion and gay rights “because Christianity is against those things.” O’Reilly again devotes more time to the War on Christmas than he does to actual wars. Frequent Fox guest Ben Stein claims that people who don’t like Christmas are mentally ill.
2013:O’Reilly again says “secular progressives” want to ban Christmas to achieve policy goals including “unfettered abortion” and gay marriage. O’Reilly diagnoses the U.S. with “‘Happy Holidays’ syndrome.” Then-Fox host Megyn Kelly tells her audience that Jesus and Santa are both white, and O’Reilly backs her on his show. Fox’s Tucker Carlson warns during a “War on Christmas” segment that not believing in God leads to “killing a ton of people.” O’Reilly declares victory in the war. Radio host Rush Limbaugh baselessly says that the left “would totally eliminate” Christmas if given the opportunity. During the Veterans Day episode of his show, Hannity devotes twice as much time to the War on Christmas as to veterans of actual wars.
2014:O’Reilly invites a psychotherapist on The O’Reilly Factor to diagnose people who are supposedly waging a war on Christmas. After a school district opts to not list religious holidays on its school calendar rather than adding two major Muslim holidays, O’Reilly cites the decision as evidence that people are “wip[ing] out all our traditions” as part of a War on Christmas. O’Reilly once again declares victory. Fox & Friends hypes an op-ed written by actor Chuck Norris wrongly claiming that Obama hadn’t spoken out about his Christian faith, using as evidence the fact that Obama didn’t weigh in on a school district’s decision to remove all religious holidays from its calendar.
2015:Fox & Friends hypes the War on Christmas with a story about a town’s decision to continue displaying a nativity scene on public property. Then-Fox analyst Peter Johnson Jr. asks if the San Bernardino, California, terrorist attack is proof of a “literal war on Christmas.” Bollingfalsely claims that a New York City school “banned parents and teachers from explicitly mentioning Christmas or Santa Claus at school functions.” Fox & Friends First claims Starbucks is trying to “bah humbug Christmas” by going with a more minimal red design, rather than Christmas images, for its annual holiday cup. Hannity guest Todd Starnes claims, “This year, the war on Christmas has really been waged on college and university campuses.” O’Reilly guest Dennis Miller says that an Ohio man’s zombie nativity display is proof that “it’s open season” on Christians.
2016:Fox & Friends Weekend, along with Starnes and Breitbart, report on the cancellation of one school’s production of A Christrmas Carol, causing the family at the center of the controversy to leave town temporarily for fear of doxxing.
2017:Dobbs says that thanks to Trump, he is “seeing far more in the way of Christmas displays, Christmas lights ... and so much obvious joy.” After the Metro rejected an ad from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., because it depicted a religious scene, Fox & Friends claims, “The war on Christmas is gaining speed.”
2018:Fox & Friends guest Mike Slater laments people “abusing freedoms here” instead of “worshipping God” during a War on Christmas segment. On her radio show, Ingraham obsesses over a made-up story about people on the left wanting to “ban” Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer based on a video HuffPost published jokingly calling the 1964 Christmas film “the worst.” Fox News reports on the video as though it is a sincere call to ban the film and runsmultiplestoriesabout it online. Fox and a numberof otherright-wingmedia outlets run stories about a supposed push by some to make Santa Claus “gender-neutral,” based on an extremely dubious and leading poll by a graphic design company. Fox contributor Tammy Bruce and Tucker Carlson commiserate over a decision by a coffee shop in the Scottish Parliament building to no longer call its gingerbread cookies “gingerbread men.”
2019: The season began early with the Fox News invention of a new seasonal war, this time on Thanksgiving. But it's not as though there weren't Christmas grievances to air. Fox Business host Trish Regan became irate over the fact that Starbucks' annual holiday cups say “Merry Coffee” instead of “Merry Christmas,” a move she was convinced had been driven by political correctness. In an interview with Jeanine Pirro, Lara Trump celebrated the ability to “say 'Merry Christmas' again.”
For 15 Years, Right-Wing Media Have Been Promoting A "War" That Simply Never Existed
Every so often, a prominent mainstream columnist will publish an op-ed making the case for people on the left to be less concerned with cultural issues. The argument goes, for example, that Democrats were too worried about trans rights in 2016, and that cost them the election. Or perhaps a columnist will write that Black Lives Matter is too divisive. The truth, however, is that people on the right seem particularly dedicated to latching onto culture war topics for electoral gain.
Following the 2016 election, there were a number of articles blaming the Democrats’ loss on an obsession with “identity politics.” It was Democrats who were supposedly obsessed with trans people and bathrooms; it was Democrats who sunk too much time, money, and energy into protecting abortion rights. In reality, what interest Democrats did have in these issues (which hardly made up a significant portion of their platform or campaign strategy) came in response to things Republican politicians did to restrict trans and reproductive rights. But there’s no real action that the War on Christmas is responding to -- it’s just a series of minor, trumped-up stories. In reality, this supposed “war” lives entirely in the minds of the people pushing the narrative. Its staying power and success have served as the blueprint for related “wars” on Easter and Thanksgiving.
Republican lawmakers are livid at President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci, accusing them of an attack on Christmas after Fauci noted that the pandemic might not be over by late December.
"The Biden Administration wants to cancel Christmas!" claimed Florida Sen. Rick Scott. "Americans are smart enough to make their own decisions. They don't want or need the federal government to decide how or when they spend time with their own families."
During a Sunday morning appearance on CBS News' Face the Nation, Fauci, the country's top epidemiologist, was asked by host Margaret Brennan whether it would be safe to hold family gatherings by Christmas. Fauci answered, "You know, Margaret, it's just too soon to tell.
We've just gotta [concentrate] on continuing to get those numbers down, and not try to jump ahead by weeks or months and say what we're gonna do at a particular time."
Fauci, who has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, has been a key member of the coronavirus response teams for both Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Last year, Christmas gatherings were followed by a major spike in COVID-19 cases.
With the Delta variant now dominant, the nation is still averaging more than 100,000 new reported cases daily. There is no evidence that the pandemic will be resolved in the next 11 weeks.
Still, an array of GOP lawmakers scolded Fauci and Biden and vowed to simply ignore public health concerns this December.
"I don't think anyone is going to be listening to Scrooge Fauci. I know I won't be," announced Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who has frequently clashed with Fauci over whether to follow medical science.
"Fauci has lost all credibility with the American people," tweeted House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik. "We aren't waiting on his permission to celebrate Christmas together."
"I would like to inform Biden and Fauci that regardless of what they say, Americans are celebrating Christmas," announced New York Rep. Claudia Tenney.
"Guess this means I'm throwing a giant Christmas party," said Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw.
"No one elected Fauci to be Christmas Czar," mocked Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs.
"This Grinch can move right along, the Boebert household is celebrating Christmas no matter what he says," tweeted Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. "And someone should let him know that tyrants only get coal in their stocking."
On Monday, Fauci told CNN that his urging Americans to get vaccinated "was misinterpreted as my saying we can't spend Christmas with our families, which was absolutely not the case. I will be spending Christmas with my family, I encourage people, particularly the vaccinated people who are protected, to have a good, normal Christmas with your family."
The attack on Fauci and Biden is the latest salvo in the GOP's claim that Democrats are waging a "war on Christmas."
In 2016, Donald Trump said during his campaign for president that he would make sure Americans said "Merry Christmas" again if elected — as if everyone had somehow stopped saying it. He declared mission accomplished on that promise in 2017.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
Behaving badly, in a way contrary to anyone's idea of norms or traditions, has become a badge of honor for far too many of our nation's leaders and citizens, for which they feel neither shame nor a need to apologize.
Do unto others? Not quite. All those questions that should give pause — "Would you want someone to call your mother that name?" "What kind of example are you setting for your child?" — don't work.
I wonder if the armed mob that gathered outside the home of Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson as she was finishing up decorating with her four year-old son were some of the same folks who complain about secular attempts to cancel Christmas. You know, the ones who grumble if a Starbucks cup displays snowflakes instead of a Nativity scene or go ballistic if an unsuspecting clerk dare utter an inclusive "Season's Greetings."
They have succeeded in tanking Christmas where so-called heathens have failed — as if COVID-19 were not already enough of a reason to feel depressed.
Loud chants of "You're murderers" and shouted obscenities hardly sound like tidings of comfort and joy.
Follow The Leader
Those refusing to accept the fact that former Vice President Joe Biden will be moving into the White House in a few weeks, and acting abominably to their fellow Americans because of it, are only following the lead of President Donald Trump, whose weekend speech raised victimhood to a sacrament in a cult-like religion over which he rules.
In Georgia, ostensibly to stump for the state's two Republican senators in runoffs that could determine party control of the Senate, Trump, of course, turned the conversation to the injustice of being rejected by a majority of the voters.
"We're all victims. Everybody here, all these thousands of people here tonight, they're all victims. Every one of you."
Faith, hope and love? Actually, Trump called for "revenge." How Christ-like.
What else would you expect from a man who even when his recent "summit" was supposed to be offering information about a vaccine spent most of his time not consoling Americans who have lost loved ones but instead ranting about an election he won't ever believe he lost?
The frightening thing is how many choose to follow this false savior, whose words and actions resemble not the Ten Commandments but rather the seven deadly sins.
Christian radio talk show host Eric Metaxas told the president, "This is God's battle even more than our battle." Excuse me, but I believe God would like a word before handing over the reins to someone who has judged the election the "most horrible thing that has ever happened in the history of our nation." Genocide and enslavement have apparently been relegated to footnote status.
While some Republican lawmakers in Washington have called to congratulate him, Biden says, only a minority are acknowledging his victory publicly, not exactly a ringing endorsement for following the people's will nor a demonstration of courage.
One senator who waffles when asked about the president-elect is one of those Georgia GOP incumbents Trump has endorsed, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who has also appeared as a guest speaker at the church of her Democratic opponent, the Rev. Raphael Warnock. Now, however, she refuses to call Warnock by his title in a debate and plucks passages from his sermons out of context to question the sincerity of his faith — a strategy she preemptively decried when Judge Amy Coney Barrett came before the Senate for her Supreme Court hearing.
In return, Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said of Loeffler: "She's lied, not only on me, but on Jesus."
Being accused of radical political views is nothing new for Black pastors. The historic Ebenezer Baptist was the church of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was often accused of being a "communist" and worse for advocating racial justice.
All Are Not Welcome
The new religion of Trump is defined not by good deeds but by its enemies list. Rather than welcome people in, its adherents push them out. Why else would Georgia's Republican election officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, praised for vouching for the integrity of his state's votes, nevertheless back additional regulations to make voting more difficult?
Using phony voter fraud claims to restrict the vote and access to it — in the middle of a pandemic, no less — is about making "thy neighbor" an "other," and clogging up any path to equality with obstacles.
The holiday season could be a backdrop for concerned leaders urging unity, patience and consideration for others by, for example, wearing a mask. The recent "Giving Tuesday" showcased worthy causes and organizations to lift up in times that have been especially tough for them.
But how many instead listened to the ridiculous siren song of donor pleas that read: "Please contribute $45 IMMEDIATELY to claim your FREE Trump Christmas Ornament!" The money — more than $200 million raised by Trump's team so far — will go to a lot of things not remotely related to contesting the 2020 election.
No genuine contrition, which in many faiths is the first step toward reconciliation with the Creator. Just pride in every transgression, and doubling down on wrongdoing.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser, who pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI, was pardoned by Trump, though the federal judge who heard his case said that didn't equal innocence. Instead of being grateful and perhaps doing some, may I say, penance by helping others who weren't so lucky or well-connected, Flynn promptly supported a group that urged Trump to "immediately declare a limited form of Martial Law, and temporarily suspend the Constitution and civilian control of these federal elections, for the sole purpose of having the military oversee a re-vote."
Exalting in one man's transgressions, amplifying and imitating them, and demanding others to follow along turns Christianity, or any faith, on its head.
What it does look like, though, is a true "War on Christmas," with weapons.
Mary C. Curtis has worked at The New York Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Charlotte Observer, as national correspondent for Politics Daily, and is a senior facilitator with The OpEd Project. Follow her on Twitter @mcurtisnc3.
