
Fox News tried to downplay and ignore the indictments against two top Trump campaign officials, but Americans laughed at the obvious and pathetic propaganda attempts.

Fox News did not want its audience to know that two major figures in Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Paul Manafort and Richard Gates, were indicted, so instead the right-wing propaganda network spoke about burger emojis. And Halloween candy.

While real journalists at legitimate news outlets were discussing the 12 criminal counts against two top Trump campaign officials, Fox News was downplaying the breaking news.

Ironically, Manafort turned himself into the feds during "Fox & Friends," the program on the network with the closest affiliation to Trump, which he was watching and tweeting about Monday morning. The hosts of the program were obligated to at least mention the criminal news, but quickly filled their roles as Trump's jesters, with co-host Steve Doocy asking if the charges are "all they've got."


Other Fox News figures dismissed the charges as relating to events that happened "years ago," another stab at distancing the serious criminality from Trump.

In this case, "all they've got" are a dozen criminal charges against one of the figures key to installing Donald Trump into the presidency, as well as another Trump campaign official, Rick Gates.

Fox instead explained to its audience that Google had made a gaffe in the placement of cheese on its hamburger emojis. They described the corporate gaffe as a "crisis" at almost the same time as Trump's campaign chairman was turning himself in to the FBI.

CNN anchor Jake Tapper noted as the events were unfolding that it is "a good time for public to see which media outlets have been reporting the actual story vs which are obedient vassals of people in power."

Perhaps responding to the online ridicule of their attempt to cover up the devastating news for the Trump team, Fox aired a report on "top Halloween candy," in a "news by the numbers" segment that was not about the 12 charges filed in federal court against Manafort and Gates.

When Fox did cover politics, it did so by once again rehashing anti-Hillary Clinton conspiracy theories promoted by Trump, rather than the very real criminal accusations filed in court against the Trump campaign.

Trump signaled to Fox and the world that he was in fact watching them spin on his behalf, praising the work of pro-Trump spinner Michael Caputo when he appeared on the network.

The tweet was the de facto boss of the network checking in, letting them know that their efforts to deceive, lie, and mislead on his behalf have not gone unnoticed.

Even if this is seen as high praise within conservative circles, the wider world is more and more aware that Fox is not news. It is not journalism, but rather, a poorly done propaganda machine whose role is the amplification and veneration of Donald Trump, who has presided over corruption and now criminal behavior. Just don't expect to see it on Fox.