
Fox News exploited the death of Seth Rich to help Trump evade blame for working with Russia. Now Rich's mom and dad are taking on the right-wing juggernaut.

Fox News exploited and desecrated the memory of a young man who was tragically murdered, and now his family is fighting back against the right-wing network with a lawsuit. They're standing up for truth and decency after the pro-Trump network once again acted immorally in service to the Republican Party and conservatism.

In 2016, Seth Rich worked at the Democratic National Committee and was murdered in what police believe to be a robbery. But conservative conspiracy theorists baselessly claimed that his death had connections to Wikileaks and the organization's release of stolen emails from within the DNC.

They completely made up the idea that Rich's death was in retribution for releasing the emails. He had nothing to do with it.


While trying desperately to counteract unflattering stories about the Trump presidential campaign's interactions with Russian operatives, Fox News broadcast fake news reports based on the conspiracy theories. They also published the conspiracies on FoxNews.com.

The stories were prominently featured on Sean Hannity's show, the centerpiece of Fox's prime-time lineup.

After the lies were exposed, Fox eventually retracted the stories, but the claims were obviously false when Fox broadcast them in the first place.

Now Rich's parents are suing Fox for desecrating their son's memories. They accuse the network of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

In an interview with ABC News, Mary Rich said, "They never called us to check any facts. They took a rumor and ran with it."

She added, "We lost his body this first time, and the second time we lost his soul. They took more from us with the lies. We want our son's life, and his soul restored, and I want our life back, so we can move forward again."

The episode is a microcosm of what Fox News has repeatedly done in the 22 years of its existence. The network operates as a quasi-official arm of the Republican Party, twisting facts and smearing anyone perceived to be a threat to the right.

Fox will go after anyone, whether they are the (Democratic) president of the United States or a homeless person, if they believe it helps the right gain power.

With backing from billionaire Rupert Murdoch, Fox has been able to bully people and evade responsibility for many of their actions. The Rich family is standing up to them and shining a spotlight on this sordid cesspool responsible for the rise of figures like Trump.

Fox thinks it has a blank check to exploit human suffering, but the chorus of voices opposed to their indecency continues to get louder.