Amidst rising calls from narrative-peddling leftists determined to squelch the First Amendment that Fox News be censored over coverage of election integrity concerns and Tucker Carlson’s reporting on Jan. 6, fellow host Mark Levin took an unsolicited stand for the “competition of ideas.”
(Video: Fox News)
Nearly two and a half years after the 2020 presidential election, the fallout from the outcome has continued to ripple beyond the halls of government. For Fox News, it has meant facing a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems for airing accusations that their machines allegedly played a role in altering the outcome in favor of now-President Joe Biden and more recent calls to suppress their reach after Carlson aired unedited clips from the Capitol on Jan. 6 to let the public draw their own conclusions.
Sunday, kicking off the latest edition of “Life, Liberty & Levin,” the syndicated radio host began with a candid defense of the outlet and said, “You know, it’s a great honor for me to come to you every Sunday night on this network, Fox News Channel, and I want you to know something. I could not do this show anywhere else on cable, on network TV and so forth cause they wouldn’t allow it, I’m sure.”
Recounting how he had been approached to do a show without guidelines to how the program would look, Levin posited, “This fantastic network, if it didn’t exist, I want you to think about what kind of media you would be receiving day-in and day-out; from ‘Meet the Press;’ from ‘Good Morning America;’ from God knows what. It would just be the same thing over and over again. We really do have a competition of ideas here, even among conservatives, even within the newsroom. ”
“And that’s a good thing. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. This is a vibrant, vigorous network. Nobody asked me to tell you this,” he reminded. “I’ve just decided to say it, and I’m gonna tell you why.”
Throughout the remainder of the monologue, the host would go on to air clips of an event featuring Black Liberation theologist Louis Farrakhan called “Saviours’ Day 2023” where members of the Nation of Islam paid to attend and hear the controversial figure spout antisemitism. He then reminded the public of Farrahkhan’s connections to the Democratic Party and leaders like former President Barack Obama before contrasting the silence on those connections with routine efforts to smear former President Donald Trump.
“Even though we come under attack here, we come under attack from the same sources who have lied to you about so much and continue to lie to you about so much,” Levin said. “They’re basically appendages of the Democrat Party; they’re mouthpieces for the left. There’s simply no question about that. We have all kinds of people here who have all kinds of ideas, and they’re free to express them. And that’s a good thing, it’s called free speech.”
In defense of their coverage of the 2020 presidential election and Dominion, Fox News had previously released a statement that read, “There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners, but the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan.”
That hasn’t stopped the likes of Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from calling for the censorship of the network with the latter playing coy while commenting on what programming U.S. service members should have available.
“Again, I don’t want to get into the business of telling troops what they can and cannot watch,” the congressman said as he suggested exactly that,” but if you have a news station that a court is going to rule is in its evening hour, you know, perpetuating dis- and misinformation, I don’t know if I disagree with VoteVets who is saying that we need to take a look at, you know, how this is being broadcast to our troops.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
- Notoriously ‘moderate’ GOP senator comically blasts MTG for ‘dragging our brand down’ - April 24, 2024
- Chip Roy voices concern over George Soros’ purchase of major radio company, potential impact on Texas - April 24, 2024
- Australian PM calls on social media platforms to ban memes that make fun of him - April 24, 2024
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.