Fox Condemns Anti-Semitic Rhetoric From Guest On Lou Dobbs Program
An executive from the Fox Business Network denounced the anti-Semitic remarks of a guest who appeared on one of the network’s leading shows, Lou Dobbs Tonight.
Gary Schreier — the network’s senior vice president for programming — released a statement on Sunday wherein he condemned an “anti-Semitic trope” used by a guest on Dobbs’ show earlier last week, per a report by CNN.
The remarks sparked widespread condemnation from some audience members when the same episode was re-telecast on Saturday — just a few hours after the Pittsburgh synagogue attack took place, killing 11 people. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the attack was the “deadliest anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States.”
Schreier denounced the guest’s comments, and said that the episode in question has been pulled from all future scheduling.
The offending comment was made by Chris Farrell — a board member of the conservative Washington group Judicial Watch — on Thursday night’s episode of the show. He said that the refugee caravan now traveling through southern Mexico toward the U.S. border was funded by George Soros, a Jewish billionaire and liberal philanthropist.
According to the New York Times, Mr. Soros is “frequently figured in right-wing and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.” Fox also said that it will no longer book Mr. Farrell on either Fox Business Network or Fox News Channel, per the Times story.
Neither Fox News nor Fox Business will book Judicial Watch's Chris Farrell for appearances in the future, a Fox spokeswoman said. https://t.co/lV5zjRsg7y
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) October 28, 2018
CNN tried to reach Mr. Farrell for a comment — but he refused to say anything, and hung up.
Per the CNN report, Farrell, who is a regular guest on the network, has made offensive remarks on Dobbs’ show in the past as well. During the episode aired on May 21, 2018, he called the State Department a “Soros-occupied territory.”
Show host Lou Dobbs — Fox Business Network’s highest-rated host — is also known for peddling some controversial theories against Mr. Soros, many of them anti-Semitic in nature. Dobbs has also called Soros an “evil SOB” and “insidious,” per CNN.
Earlier last week, Dobbs posted a series of controversial tweets claiming that the bomb threats sent to news organizations and to prominent Democrats were false — and called it “fake news.”
Per CNN, he also sent a follow-up tweet where he said that “fake news has just successfully changed the narrative” with coverage of the mail bombs. He later deleted his tweets. Despite widespread condemnation, Dobbs never apologized.
Fox Business did not comment on Dobbs’ rhetoric. However, it appears that some of his Fox colleagues were annoyed by Dobbs’ comments regarding the mailed bombs. A senior Fox News employee talked to CNN on Thursday, saying that people like Dobbs are responsible for the negative reputation attached to Fox.
“It’s people like Dobbs who really ruin it for all the hard working journalists at Fox.”
