Biden 'wannabe dictator' chyron was 'startling even for raucous Fox News': media reporter

14 June 2023

Editor's note: The spelling of "wannabe" in the headline was corrected.

After pleading "not guilty" to 37 criminal courts in a federal courtroom in Miami on Tuesday, June 13, former President Donald Trump flew north to Bedminster, New Jersey and gave his first speech following the arraignment. Fox News' Brian Kilmeade, covering the speech, introduced Trump by saying, "This is the president of the United States."

President Joe Biden also gave a Tuesday-night speech, and Fox News placed the following chyron, in all caps, on the screen: "Wannabe Dictator Speaks At The White House After Having His Political Rival Arrested."

Fox News has been drawing a great deal of criticism for its post-arraignment coverage — and for treating Trump as a president-in-exile while describing Biden as a "dictator." The right-wing cable news outlet addressed the controversy in a brief statement, saying, "The chyron was taken down immediately and was addressed."

In an article published on June 14, the Washington Post's Jeremy Barr stresses that the "wannabee dictator" chyron was "startling even for the conservative network during its raucously opinionated prime-time hours."

"The chyron appeared on screen for 27 seconds — and quickly went viral on social media," Barr explains. "The wording borrowed from the criticism leveled frequently on the air this week by Fox pundits, who have claimed the Trump indictment is politically motivated. Yet the stark and flippant phrasing of the chyron struck many critics as crossing a line into outright falsehood."

Barr adds, "The Biden Administration has maintained that it has no role in the federal Trump prosecution, with Attorney General Merrick Garland turning to a special counsel to avoid a conflict of interest."

The Post journalist observes that Fox News' chyrons are usually "somewhat toned down during major political events."

"In this case, though, the 'wannabe dictator' chyron appeared above a 'Fox News Alert' banner," Barr reports. "A veteran Fox News producer who requested anonymity to speak candidly said that chyrons are generally approved by a senior producer before a show's airing, though they would be written on the fly during a live speech. In that event, as happened Tuesday night, 'there's no time for some formalized process.'"

Fox News continues to draw condemnation for the "dictator" chyron. On June 14, Democratic strategist and pundit Ameshia Cross tweeted, "The chyron is wrong. Offensive. A flat out lie. Trump literally led an attempted coup to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, he's taken a page from the dictator playbook in calling the press an 'enemy of the people.'"

Journalist Brian Tyler Cohen said of Fox News, "This is not a legitimate news organization that should have privileged press credentials."

The Daily Beast's David Rothkopf was equally scathing and tweeted, "It is one thing to be a partisan bul****t machine. It is another thing to simultaneously claim to be a news organization. Fox is allergic to facts. Big lawsuits haven't changed that. This chyron has no basis in fact and spreads dangerous lies."

2023 has been a turbulent year for Fox News, which agreed to a $787.5 million settlement in Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit.

After the 2020 presidential election, Fox News promoted the false and thoroughly debunked claim that Dominion's voting software was used to help Biden steal the 2020 presidential election. But e-mails and text messages presented by Dominion as evidence showed that behind closed doors, Fox News hosts acknowledged that there was no truth to that claim.

Fox News is still facing a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit by Dominion competitor Smartmatic.

Find Jeremy Barr's full Washington Post article at this link (subscription required).

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