This piece originally appeared on Media Matters.
Fox Business will host the fourth Republican presidential debate tonight. Unlike its sister network Fox News, many are unfamiliar with the low-rated Fox Business. But Media Matters has been watching since the network’s debut in 2007. Here are 35 of the worst things to appear on the “business” network.
1. Fox Business Promoted Obama Birth Certificate Conspiracy Theory: “Photoshopped”
ERIC BOLLING: I need to know this. You see this fold. This has clearly been photocopied from a book. You see that? It kind of folds back to, like, almost like a binding of a book. And then for some reason, there’s a green border around it that had to be Photoshopped in. Trying to figure out why they would do that.
PAMELA GELLER: Well, this whole border is suspect. I mean, if you’re taking a scan of something, it would, to your point, it would be white. Why is this the color of the same —
BOLLING: Note this – note this, you guys, April 25, 2011 — two days ago — is when this was requested from the state registrar, Alvin Onaka. So we’ll keep our eye on it. We’ll keep digging. Hey, listen. It may or may not be, but certainly opens up the can of worms that there are at least questions for it.
OK, Pam. Hang on. Let me bring in the rest of our all-star panel. On the left, we have Fox News contributor Tamara Holder; on the right, Dr. Ablow rejoins us, along with Fox News contributor Monica Crowley.
I’m looking at you over there, Tamara. I’m looking at you smirking a little bit. What’s wrong? I mean, at least it’s certainly — you have to ask the question, has this been Photoshopped?
2. Fox Business Host Questioned If SEAL Team Six Really Killed Osama Bin Laden
ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Do you believe he’s dead, or do you want some more evidence? A photograph, a testimony of an eyewitness? Something other than the words of a president whose words we have doubted before?
MICHAEL SCHEUER: Well, Judge, I think what I go with is the men and women on the ground. If they didn’t get him, they would admit it. The really, the success story here is not the president who did the right thing at last, but the true story is the young men and women who serve the United States in the military and the intelligence services. They risked their lives, they did their job. And if he’s not dead, they’ll never be able to keep that a secret.
NAPOLITANO: All right, but the intelligence services of which you were once a part want as much closure to this as the American public does. So with the body gone, or sleeping with the fishes, won’t there always be that lingering doubt amongst Americans: “Well, where is the body? How do we know he’s dead? Why isn’t there a picture of it? Why didn’t we see it before they shipped it off to sea?”
SCHEUER: I think much more than just a likelihood, Judge, I think we’re already in it. The conspiracy people are going to spin this up to a very high degree and even if they release the pictures they claim they have, with Photoshop and other programs, you can doctor any, any photograph to make it look however you want. So I think it perhaps might have been wiser to keep the body or at least show the body before they buried it.
3. Fox Business Host: “Show Me The Birth Certificate”
4. Neil Cavuto’s Two-Hour Keystone XL Freakout
Fox host Neil Cavuto devoted much of his two-hour Fox Business show to criticizing President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Over the course of his show, Cavuto questioned whether climate change is man-made, suggested Keystone XL would have been “one of the cleanest pipelines ever made,” likened pipeline opponents to protesters in London who “got pretty violent,” mocked Obama for rejecting the pipeline to appease “the French,” claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin “must be liking this,” and told coal company CEO Robert Murray that Obama is “kind of sticking a knife in you guys.”
5. Fox Business Host: Obama Was “Chugging A Few 40’s” Instead Of Responding To Joplin Disaster
ERIC BOLLING: [N]ow, tornadoes devastating the heartland, killing scores, and leveling just about every building in Joplin, Missouri — Mr. Obama, you’ve decided that chugging a few 40’s and rediscovering you’re Irish is more important than a presidential visit to a community trying to figure out what just hit them. Leadership, Mr. Obama, leadership; it’s about choices and you seem to be fresh out of the right ones.
6. Fox Business Host Attacked The Muppets For “Brainwash[ing]” Children Against Capitalism
During the December 2, 2011, edition of Fox Business’ Follow the Money, host Eric Bolling discussed the plot to the Muppets movie with Media Research Center’s Dan Gainor. Noting that the antagonist of the film is an oil tycoon named “Tex Richman,” Bolling asked, “Is liberal Hollywood using class warfare to kind of brainwash our kids?” Gainor responded by saying: “Yeah, absolutely. And they’ve been doing it for decades.” During the segment, on-screen text asked, “Are liberals trying to brainwash your kids against capitalism?”
7. Fox Business Host: Lego Movie Pushes “An Anti-Business Message To Kids”
8. Fox Business Used Footage Of Women In Bikinis To Discuss Crime In Mexico
9. Fox Business Host: Obama Might Issue Reparations For Slavery
10. Fox Business Host Accused Obama Of Hosting “Hoodlum[s]” In “The Hizzouse”
Eric Bolling teased a segment about the White House hosting the president of Gabon by saying, “Guess who’s coming to dinner? A dictator. Mr. Obama shares a laugh with one of Africa’s kleptocrats. It’s not the first time he’s had a hoodlum in the hizzouse.”
11. Fox Business Host Asked “Is There Something About The Female Brain That Is A Deterrent” To Having Female Tech Executives?
12. Fox Business Hosted “Debate” Between Republican Candidate And Obama Impersonator
13. Fox Business Hosted 9-11 Conspiracy Theorist Jesse Ventura To Discuss “Alleged Pentagon Plane”
ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Before I let you go, tell me about your new series. What’s the next conspiracy you’re investigating?
JESSE VENTURA: Well, we open up with Plum Island, just down the road from here a little bit. We will do water, we will do 9-11 again, looking specifically at the Penta – the alleged Pentagon plane that hit there. We do J.F.K., which I’m thoroughly thrilled over because as I said you will get the first confession to the murder of John F. Kennedy on Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory.
NAPOLITANO: Did Lee Harvey Oswald kill John F. Kennedy on the lawn?
VENTURA: I don’t believe so, not at all.
NAPOLITANO: Governor, it’s a pleasure. Thanks very much for joining us.
VENTURA: Alright, thank you judge, appreciate it.
NAPOLITANO: We’ll be watching that show.
14. Fox Contributor Called Pope Francis A “Communist” And “Marxist”/a>
ANDREW NAPOLITANO: I am sighing because the Holy Father is a challenge for traditionalist Roman Catholics, of which I am one. Particularly, traditionalists who came of age under John Paul II and then under Benedict XVI. Who, though they had impulses that were not exactly Ayn Rand on capitalism, were far more into philosophy and theology, and far less into the economy … This particular Pope, who has proclaimed himself a Peronist, is somewhere between a communist with a lowercase “c” and a Marxist with an uppercase “M.” At the same time he is trying to be a Roman Catholic — uppercase “R,” uppercase “C.”
[…]
The Pope is infallible on faith in morals. Thank God it is just limited to faith and morals because he is, he is — he sounds like a left-wing professor at the London School of Economics when he blames the mass migration on economic inequality.
15. Fox Business Reporter: Insider Trading Is “Almost A Victimless Crime”
16. Fox Business Panelist: I’d Look “Fabulous” If I Had To Live On A Food Stamp Diet
ANDREA TANTAROS: I should try it because, do you know how fabulous I’d look. I’d be so skinny. I mean, the camera adds ten pounds.
17. Fox Business Host: “Many Of” The Poor “Have Things — What They Lack Is Richness Of Spirit”
18. Fox Business’ Heartless Response To The Philippines’ Call For Aid After Typhoon
A Fox Business host said he got a “big smile” when he heard that Australia backed out of its previous pledge to send aid to developing nations coping with climate change. His response comes as an official from the Philippines tearfully called for developed nations to make good on their promises to the climate fund in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan.
On November 13, Stuart Varney, host of Varney & Co., celebrated Australia’s decision, saying he “do[esn’t] want to pay” to help the Philippines and other developing nations adapt to a rapidly changing climate.
19. Fox Business Host Blamed Obama For Baltimore Riot
20. Fox Business Host Asked Child At Tea Party Event: “Are You Worried About Me Stealing Your Money, Dude?”
21. Fox Business Host Complained Clinton Campaign Video Didn’t Have Enough Straight White Men
22. Fox Business Host Wondered If Billionaire Warren Buffett Is “A Socialist”
23. Fox Business Correspondent Attacked Climate Marchers: “Get A Job!”
24. Fox Business Host: “We Are What I Call Now In A Fascist State,” Asked If This “Is A New World Order?”
25. Fox Business Host Kicked Off Guest For Telling The Truth About Fracking
26. Fox Business Hosted Anti-Immigrant Sheriff For Post-Debate Analysis On Immigration
27. Fox Business Host: Obama “Dangerous” For Acting On Climate
28. Fox Business Hosts Attacked Federal Overtime Protections As “A Job Killer”
During a news update on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, contributor Cheryl Casone said the rule was being called “frankly, a job killer.” On Varney & Co., host Stuart Varney complained that President Obama was attempting to lift wages “by fiat,” and claimed that the overtime rule would harm “the assistant managers of this world, who will no longer become assistant managers.” On Cavuto: Coast to Coast, host Neil Cavuto quoted Rep. Tim Walberg’s (R-MI) opposition to overtime protections, adding that “you can’t fathom” why the Labor Department would act to expand overtime.
29. Fox Business Hosts Attacked Caitlyn Jenner Vanity Fair Cover: “What The Hell Is Going On?”
Neil Cavuto and Dagen McDowell made light of Jenner’s transition on Fox Business’ Cavuto: Coast to Coast, asking, “What the hell is going on?” and calling her outfit “very Playboy bunny-esque” before introducing guest Charles Payne as “Charlene Payne.”
30. Fox Business Hyped EPA Mine Spill After Ignoring Spills From Fossil Fuel Industry
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The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and Fox Business are aggressively criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for accidentally spilling toxic wastewater into Colorado’s Animas River while attempting to treat pollution from an abandoned gold mine. But over the years, these same conservative media outlets have almost completely ignored pollution that was caused by the fossil fuel industry, devoting more attention to the EPA spill than to seven recent cases of industry-caused pollution combined.
31. Fox Business Hosted Islamophobic Bigot Who Bans Muslims From Her Gun Range To Discuss Syrian Refugees
Fox Business Network invited Jan Morgan, the owner of a gun range in Arkansas that bans Muslim customers, to fearmonger that the Obama administration’s plan to accept 10,000 refugees from civil war-torn Syria “is an open door to an enemy invasion.” Calling for Islam to be “reclassified as a terrorist organization,” Morgan suggested that when refugees are admitted into the U.S., Americans may have to use their “right to bear arms to defend life.”
32. Fox Business Guest: “When You Look At Biology, Look At The Natural World … The Male Typically Is The Dominant Role”
LOU DOBBS: Erick, your thoughts on this study and what it portends?
ERICK ERICKSON: Lou, I’m so used to liberals telling conservatives that they’re anti-science. But this is — liberals who defend this and say it’s not a bad thing are very anti-science.
When you look at biology, look at the natural world, the roles of a male and female in society, and the other animals, the male typically is the dominant role. The female, it’s not antithesis, or it’s not competing, it’s a complementary role. We as people in a smart society have lost the ability to have complimentary relationships in nuclear families, and it’s tearing us apart.
And what I find interesting in the survey is that three-quarters of the people surveyed recognize that having moms as the primary breadwinner is bad for kids and bad for marriage, and reality shows us that’s the truth.
33. Ignoring Evidence Of Deception, Fox Business Host Praised Exxon For “Actually Help[ing] Finance Accurate” Climate Change Research
MARIA BARTIROMO: Let me move on to some policy issues, because Hillary Clinton, Al Gore — you know what’s coming here — more than 40 of the country’s leading environmental and social justice groups are demanding a federal investigation of ExxonMobil, accusing the company of deceiving the American public, basically, about the risks of climate change to protect profits. What do you say to it?
REX TILLERSON: Well, the charges are pretty unfounded, you know, without any substance at all, and they’re dealing with a period of time that happened decades ago, so there’s a lot I could say about it. I’m not sure how helpful it would be for me to talk about it, particularly as we’re leading up to some very important meetings that are going to occur in Paris, here in just a few weeks. I don’t want to be a distraction, I really don’t want this to be a distraction, there’s some serious issues that need to be talked about at that — at that convention. I think, as — all I would say is that we were very open during that period of time with all the research we were doing, we were spending a lot of time trying to understand this issue in the early days. We were very open with the work we were doing, most of it was done in collaboration with academic institutions and many government agencies, for us to understand this better, and I think as we began to understand that then people began to think about policy choices, we had a view on policy choices, which has not changed very much over the years, and we’ve been very open about that, so —
BARTIROMO: We should point out that you actually helped finance accurate scientific research about climate change, and yet Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Al Gore — they’re basically saying you and your industry are hiding the risks of climate change, just like the tobacco companies hid the risks of smoking.
TILLERSON: Well, nothing could be further from the truth. Again, as you point out, we’ve been very active participants in supporting scientific discovery. We funded some of the very early attempts to model the climate.
BARTIROMO: Right, I know that.
TILLERSON: And still do. At MIT we were the only major oil company that has been a participant in the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, since its inception, and we still are a participant. Our scientists have peer reviewed the work done by the IPCC, we have authored many of the IPCC’s reports and have published more than 50 of our own reports on subject, so we’re hardly hiding from the issue.
34. Fox Business Host Described Graphic Showing Rep. Barney Frank “Appropriately Positioned … Catching, Of Course”
35. Fox Business Guest Called Native-Born South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley “An Immigrant” Who “Does Not Understand America’s History”
ANN COULTER: I’m a student of American history, so I’m appalled by — though I would really like to like Nikki Haley since she is a Republican. On the other hand, she is an immigrant and does not understand America’s history. The flag we’re talking about —
KENNEDY: You think immigrants can’t understand the history?
COULTER: Well, she doesn’t. The Confederate flag we’re talking about never flew over an official Confederate building. It was a battle flag. It is to honor Robert E. Lee. And anyone who knows the first thing about military history, knows that there is no greater army that ever took the field than the Confederate Army.
This piece originally appeared on Media Matters.
