Media

‘Fox and Friends’ host after Jan. 6 hearing: Can’t pick and choose ‘which riots are good and bad’

by Dominick Mastrangelo - 07/22/22 10:26 AM ET

Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt said the morning after the latest hearing investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection that Congress should also probe the riots that broke out during protests for racial justice across the country during the summer of 2020.

“There’s never an excuse for a riot, but remember the summer of 2020 when there were all those riots?” Earhardt asked on Friday on “Fox and Friends.” “Where are the hearings for all those riots? For people burning buildings and burning businesses. You can’t pick and choose which riot is the good one and which is the bad one. They’re all bad.”

During Thursday night’s prime-time hearing on the events of Jan. 6, the last scheduled for July, several members of former President Trump’s inner circle at the time described the feelings and activities inside the White House during the Capitol attack, particularly Trump’s failure to act.

The testimony and exhibits painted a picture of Trump resisting telling the rioters to go home and his stubborn refusal to say publicly that the election was over.

“Everyone in that room, they’re all against Trump,” Earhardt said. “They’re all anti-Trumpers. Every single one voted to impeach him.”

The committee reported Trump was watching the violence unfold live on Fox News from his private dining room while calling members of Congress to urge them to delay certification of President Biden’s victory.

Text message records show a number of Fox News personalities including Brian Kilmeade, one of Earhardt’s morning co-hosts, contacting then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the Capitol riot and urging him to have Trump call the mob off.

Fox has taken flak from Democrats and media watchdogs for how it has handled coverage of the Jan. 6 hearings. The network, during the two prime-time hearings, has opted not to preempt its scheduled prime-time opinion lineup and instead air continuous live coverage of the hearings on Fox Business Network.