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https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/02/media/bill-barr-right-wing-media-reliable-sources/index.html
Bill Barr bashed in right-wing media after election fraud comments: 'He is either a liar or a fool or both'
Updated 8:56 AM ET, Wed December 2, 2020
00:22/05:13
(CNN Business)A version of this article first appeared in the "Reliable Sources" newsletter. You can sign up for free right here.
Since he was confirmed as attorney general, William Barr has been somewhat of a hero in the right-wing media universe. He has assailed the Russia probe. He has talked a big game about cracking down on Antifa. He has sharply criticized the news media. On and on it goes.
But his celebrity status took a hit on Tuesday when he undercut President Trump's brazenly false contention that there was massive voter fraud in the 2020 election. Speaking to the Associated Press, Barr said that, "to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election."
The statement from Barr, which merely recited a simple fact, not only cut against what Trump has been saying, but also what Trump's propagandists and allies in right-wing media have been feeding their audiences. For weeks, these media personalities have strung their audiences along, suggesting that damning proof of fraud was just around the corner. Which is why the comment from Barr stung so bad.
The comment effectively forced these right-wing stars to pick between acknowledging the reality Barr laid out or continuing Trump's fantasy. Trump's most devoted propagandists chose the latter. And so they started to throw Barr under the bus, just as they've done with every other conservative who has dared to contradict the president. (Think about how former conservative stars such as Jeff Sessions, Justin Amash, Paul Ryan, and others were treated when they didn't blindly oblige Trump's demands.)
"A liar or a fool or both"
Fox Business host Lou Dobbs, whose conspiratorial program is a favorite of the president, attacked Barr in brutal terms on his show. "For the attorney general of the United States to make that statement — he is either a liar or a fool or both," Dobbs said. Dobbs then went further, suggesting Barr was "perhaps compromised." He characterized Barr as having "appeared to join in with the radical Dems and the deep-state and the resistance."
Dobbs wasn't the only one. Newsmax host Greg Kelly, who has risen to fame in right-wing media circles in the last few weeks for suggesting Trump could emerge as the winner of the election, went after Barr on his show. "Some of us are wondering if he is a warrior with the Constitution or if he's just a bureaucrat," Kelly said. Kelly added that he "can't believe" if Barr "looked for voter fraud he wouldn't find any." And Mark Levin said he "regret[ted] to say" that Barr's comments were "misleading."
The far-right blogs were even harsher. The Gateway Pundit, a fringe website which Trump has repeatedly promoted, published a post that said Barr had revealed himself as "totally deaf, dumb and blind." The post went on to say that Barr's "masquerade as someone opposed to the criminality of the Deep State" had been "exposed as a venal lie" and that he was a "fraud." It concluded, "You either fix the damn corrupt system or we will abandon you...Our days of tolerating betrayal are over."
Some hold fire
While Barr faced strong criticism from some notable names in right-wing media, others refrained from attacking him on Tuesday night. Notably, heavyweights Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity didn't skewer the AG. It will be interesting over the next 24 hours if this anti-Barr narrative takes greater hold in the Trump-friendly media, or if it dissipates.
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