Fox News recycles old riots to help Trump play soldier
Stable genius Donald Trump said he sent the National Guard to Portland after seeing “riots raging” on TV. Turns out he was watching reruns courtesy of Fox News.
He said the city was being destroyed by paid agitators. “What they’ve done to that place, it’s like living in hell,” he said, a comment that became an internet meme as some Portland residents juxtaposed it with tranquil images of the city.
Trump didn’t say which channel he watched; he said at one point he saw something “today” and at another “last night.”
The evening before, on Sept. 4, Fox News aired a two-and-a-half-minute segment spotlighting protests outside a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Portland. Similar footage aired the morning of Trump’s remarks. The president went on to announce Sept. 27 on Truth Social that he would send troops, saying that he was “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”
ProPublica found Fox News spliced footage from 2020 protests into new coverage, then claimed it showed 2025 chaos. The network built a crisis out of archives, and Trump, ever the loyal viewer, treated it like breaking news.
"He said the city was being destroyed by paid agitators."
Well, ICE is getting paid, so he's technically correct.
So you say there's a media organization that's trying to foment violence and harm our country?