At the top of his newscast today, Fox News’ Shep Smith had this to say about White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway:
”Kellyanne Conway, whom we really don’t quote much anymore because, well, history…”
That was in reference to Conway’s claim yesterday that microwave ovens turn into cameras and that’s “just a fact of modern life:”
Smith followed with:
“Counselor Kellyanne Conway, who’s previous words have been, well, up for debate…”
“Microwaves do not turn into cameras. Fox News can now confirm microwaves heat food. Cameras take pictures. Microphones don’t have cameras. And microphones can’t turn into cameras. Fox News now confirms.”
Yet again, Fox News’ Shepard Smith took to the airwaves today to defend CNN after White House press secretary Sean Spicer excluded CNN and others from a closed door press “gaggle.”
“For the record, ‘fake news’ refers to stories that are created, often by entities pretending to be news organizations, solely to draw clicks and views and are based on nothing of substance.
“In short, fake news is made up nonsense delivered for financial gain. CNN’s reporting was not fake news. Its journalists followed the same standards to which other news organizations, including Fox News, adhere.”
Watch below:
WATCH: For the third time in two months, Fox News’ Shep Smith has stood up for a free press. “CNN is not fake news” pic.twitter.com/wbJmy7LMiD
President Donald Trump praised Fox News during his combative press conference Thursday, but he certainly would not have liked what he saw if he turned on his TV afterward.
Fox News’ Shep Smith did not hold back when tearing into the president after the presser: “It’s crazy what we’re watching everyday,” Smith said. “It’s absolutely crazy. [Trump] keeps repeating throwaway lines that are not true at all and sort of avoiding this issue of Russia as if we’re some kind of fools for asking the question.”
As Smith went on, it appeared to occur to him that the president could be watching. He turned to stare directly into the camera and began to address Trump directly: “No sir,” Smith said. “We are not fools for asking the question and we demand to know the answer to this question. You owe this to the American people.”
In a bit of surprise, Fox News’ Shep Smith issued a statement today on behalf of Fox News defending CNN for the report it posted last night regarding a collection of what appeared to be “opposition ammo” meant to possibly attack Donald Trump during the presidential campaign. The main point being that CNN’s reporting was “distinctly different” from BuzzFeed’s which drew Trump’s ire.
CNN’s story, unlike Buzzfeed’s, specifically did not include the unedited dossier of unverified allegations made about Trump’s ties to Russia. Nor did CNN include any “details” of the items from the report. Smith added that no journalists should be treated in the way Trump treated CNN’s Jim Acosta, who got into a brief contretemps with Trump today at the president-elect’s first press conference since last summer.
Trump refused to take any questions from Acosta today despite continued requests, and Acosta later shared that Trump’s press secretary threatened to have him thrown out of future press events if he continued to press the president-elect.
Here’s part of Smith’s statement today:
“President-elect Trump today told CNN’s Jim Acosta that his organization amounts to fake news. CNN’s exclusive reporting on the Russian matter was separate and distinctly different from the document dump executed by an online news property.
“Though we at FOX News cannot confirm CNN’s report, it is our observation that its correspondents followed journalistic standards and that neither they nor any other journalists should be subjected to belittling and delegitimizing by the President-elect of the United States.”
Fox News anchor Shepard Smith casually came out as a gay man today in a new interview with Huffington Post.
Addressing a question of whether or not recently ousted Fox News head Roger Ailes ever asked him to stay closeted, Smith was clear and direct.
“That’s not true. He was as nice as he could be to me. I loved him like a father. I trusted him with my career and with ― I trusted him and trusts were betrayed. People outside this company can’t know [how painful that betrayal was]. This place has its enemies, but inside, it was very personal, and very scarring and horrifying.”
Additionally, Smith told the Huffington Post that Ailes had never made homophobic remarks around him.
“He treated me with respect, just respect,” Smith continued. “I wasn’t new in the business when I came here ― I’d been doing reporting for 12 years ― but I wasn’t old in it either, and he gave me every opportunity in the world and he never asked anything of me but that we get it right, try to get it right every day. It was a very warm and loving and comfortable place.”
Rumors have circled for years regarding Smith’s sexuality, which has resulted in his being regularly featured in the likes of OUT Magazine’s “Power 100” issue.
I’m never one to ‘out’ another, unless someone is using their position (as some closeted politicians have done) to hurt the LGBT community. So, Smith’s sexuality has never been a big story for me here on The Randy Report.
That said, I’m happy to see that Smith feels comfortable enough to live his life authentically. Congrats to Shep Smith!
Mediaite shares this clip of Fox News anchor Shepard Smith announcing the news that SCOTUS will take up the issue of same-sex marriage.
Apparently, Tea Baggers are up in arms that Smith points out some of the strongest opposition to marriage equality comes in the same states that opposed integration.
“Not in every case, but in most cases, the same states which were fighting integration are fighting this as well,” Smith said. “Those states which always seem to be behind the curve for reasons which are explainable and understandable. Those are the places where this is going to turn out to be the most difficult, especially if the Supreme Court stays with what has seemed to be a trend toward inclusion and away from discrimination.”
The day the news of Robin Williams death spread throughout the world, closeted Shepard Smith of Fox News spent time discussing the actor’s life and legacy. Smith concluded the segment by contemplating what would lead Williams to end his own life, and in doing so called Williams a “coward.” From the transcript:
“It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? You could love three little things so much, watch them grow, they’re in their mid-20s, and they’re inspiring you, and exciting you, and they fill you up with the kind of joy you could never have known.
“And yet, something inside you is so horrible or you’re such a coward or whatever the reason that you decide that you have to end it. Robin Williams, at 63, did that today.”
After an immediate backlash, Smith spoke to Mediaite about his what his intentions had been, and why he called Robin Williams out as a “coward:”
“I spent an entire hour talking about how much this man affected people’s lives and brought greatness to this world. I was just wondering aloud what could have made this man want to end it all. And it reminds us that we all have responsibility as friends and neighbors to help take responsibility to prevent this from happening. There are people who process suicide as a black-and white-issue. I don’t process anything as black-and-white.
“I was sorry to read online the people who see the world in a black-and-white way, and to suggest that they might have a definitive analysis of why he did such a thing. What I wanted to do is celebrate his life and find some meaning in our own lives, since we often do know someone who is reaching out, and we have a responsibility to help that person — maybe a phone call or a door knock is in order.
“But no matter how you process it: Look at what this family is going through. I would never presume to know anything about his private life. And if any of his family members and friends were to have seen me use the word ‘coward,’ I would be horrified. I would just to apologize to the end of the earth to anyone who might think that I meant to openly call him a coward. To the core of my being, I regret it. It just came out of my mouth. And I’m so sorry. And to anyone and their families who see that, I am sorry.”
While practically everyone over at FOX News has seemingly tried and convicted recently freed prisoner of war Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, Shepard Smith took time Tuesday to denounce the rush to judgement saying everyone in America deserves due process.
Said Smith:
“If you desert or commit treason, you have to be proved to have done so. We can’t just decide because some people come on television and yakety yak, and we’ve got a report of this and a report of that and that’s what happened. As the Army said, as the Pentagon said, you bring them home. You bring them home first, and then you investigate.”
