In this undated product image released by Oscar Mayer, a variety of Oscar Mayer meat products, from left, smoked uncured bacon, slow roasted turkey breast and New York Style smoked uncured beef franks are shown. Turkey, or prosciutto or even soppressata can be found at most local supermarkets these days, part of a trend that has seen cold cut cases break out of the ham-and-more-ham routine. Meanwhile, old favorites are getting a makeover, like the new line of Oscar Mayer Selects making their debut this week free of artificial flavors, preservatives and colors. (AP Photo/Oscar Mayer)

Has Fox News viewing been restricted to those with lobotomies?

It came across that way on The View Friday.

Also a smidge apparent: Donald Trump is a dolt, and so are the people on Fox.

Essentially, the show presented this: Trump doesn’t pay any attention to experts in dealing with the coronavirus, he’s gone from one side to the other on the issue of whether there’s a problem, and those who watch Fox have no ability to think.

The segment began with former regular host Sara Haines touting the importance of people listening to medical experts about COVID-19, and Sunny Hostin voiced a deep concern: When it comes to staying safe during this particularly pandemic-penetrated period, what do we do about all those people listening to Trump and Fox News instead of the smart people?

We look to be in quite the mess; some on the Right, per ABC’s talk fest, have flipped like burgers.

Here’s Sunny:

“We saw those mixed messages coming directly from the President. And I think that Fox News, as we know, has sort of been the mouthpiece of the administration. We saw a tone change from the administration. And Fox News, I think, followed suit.”

And those Fox viewers sound like real dummies:

﻿

“[W]hat should the Fox viewer — and we know, if you look at the stats, the Fox viewer really turns on Fox News in the morning and keeps it on all day. They keep it on 8 hours a day. Those are the stats. And so, you know, I think, with the President always saying, ‘Fake news, fake news, fake news,’ and his supporters believing it, and Fox viewers believing it. They now are in a really — they should be, at least — in a really strange place. They now should be in a really strange place. What do they believe? They should be where you are, Sara. They should believe…Dr. Fauci. They should believe the medical experts. But will they? But will they?”

If Fox News fans are as brain dead as that sounds, I suppose it’s anyone’s ball game.

But Meghan McCain defended some at the network, particularly good ol’ Tucker Carlson.

She asserted it was he who got Trump to see the error of his ways.

Lay it out, Meghan:

“One of the revelations coming out of this is that it was actually Tucker Carlson that convinced President Trump to start believing in the realities of the coronavirus. There are reports that Tucker Carlson actually drove from his house in Florida to Mar-a-Lago to convince President Trump, and this was sourced in multiple places, and he was actually one of the people that ended up changing the President’s mind.”

Sunny thought that was even worse — the man America elected, to hear Hostin tell it, wouldn’t listen to anyone:

“He has real professionals — doctors surrounding him. Rather than listen to his team, he’s listening to Tucker Carlson?

Did Donald Trump really hear all the experts and then just say, “I’m magically smarter about medicine than doctors, so I’m going to think and say everything that’s the opposite of what I’m finding out”?

Maybe some people really believe that.

And there’s a small bit of reason to: A recent video on social media — containing essentially the same audio featured in a Joe Biden ad — makes Trump appear to have claimed the coronavirus was a hoax.

Here’s the confusing mashup:

Hopefully, Sunny doesn’t think the President said that.

Oh, wait — actually, that’s exactly what she thinks:

According to her:

“[People who distrust the media] listen to the President, who called it a hoax. And their lives were at stake.”

To put it succinctly:

﻿

via GIPHY

From my previous coverage:

As reported by The Hill, this is what the Prez actually said: “Coronavirus. They’re politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs, you say, ‘How’s President Trump doing?’ ‘Oh, nothing, nothing.’ They have no clue, they don’t have any clue. … And this is their new hoax. But you know we did something that’s been pretty amazing.” Here’s more from [The Washington Post]: The full quote shows Trump is criticizing Democratic talking points and the media’s coverage of his administration’s response to coronavirus. He never says that the virus itself is a hoax, and although the Biden camp included the word “their,” the edit does not make clear to whom or what Trump is referring.

The Trump campaign asked Twitter to label that clip with a “Manipulated Media” tag.

The Bluebird declined.

Back to Meghan, she really went to bat for Tucker:

“He’s been very responsible in his coverage since the beginning, though. I think he deserves credit.”

But Sunny’s still uncomfortable, ’cause of that rube in the White House:

“It gives me no comfort that the President, as opposed to listening to (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director) Dr. Fauci — who I think has been raising the alarm not only with the President but also in front of Congress — he has the woman who…led the team during the Aids epidemic, he has real professionals, doctors surrounding him. Rather than listening to his team, he’s listening to Tucker Carlson? No shade to Tucker Carlson, but come on.”

Sara asked, “But does that really surprise you, Sunny?”

Sunny replied Nope:

“It doesn’t surprise me, but it gives me no comfort.”

So there ya go.

Kudos to Tucker for being fair and balanced — he does a great job. But I don’t imagine the President was thinking there’s nothing wrong with a virus until he spoke with FNC’s beloved host.

As for an epic fumbling of the ball by the White House, Trump’s refusal to listen to the facts where our lives are concerned, and viewers of Fox being unable to figure things out, I don’t believe most Americans see things that way.

Just last week, in fact, POTUS’s handling of the situation drew praise from CNN:

On CNN This was remarkable from the President of the United States…[President @realDonaldTrump] is being the kind of leader that people need. Again, on CNN. pic.twitter.com/10bUuivIp3 — The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) March 17, 2020

Trump can’t seem to do much right in the eyes of The View. But if I’m correct about how most of the country — including reasonable Americans who happen to watch Fox News — feel he’s handling things right now, starting in January, I think Sunny Hostin’s going to have 4 more years of discomfort.

-ALEX

Relevant RedState links in this article: here.

See 3 more pieces from me:

Hilarious: In Response to Social Distancing, a Las Vegas Strip Club Opens a Drive-Thru

Did Kim Foxx Shrug off Jussie Smollett for the Bigger Fish of R. Kelly? Newly-Obtained Documents Speak Out

People Are Calling 911 Because They’re out of Toilet Paper, So One Police Department Provides a History of Alternatives

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below. For iPhone instructions, see the bottom of this page.