Fox News has mentioned Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar more times than CNN and MSNBC combined since their trip to Israel was canceled.
The two freshman congresswomen were supposed to travel to Israel, but their trip was abruptly canceled on Thursday after President Trump publicly pressured the Israeli government not to allow them entry into the country. The government complied with Trump’s suggestion, citing a law that allows the country to ban individuals who have engaged publicly in calling for boycotts of the country, which Omar and Tlaib have done.
“It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tlaib to visit,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are a disgrace!”
It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tlaib to visit. They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds. Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are a disgrace!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2019
Since then, each of the three major cable news networks, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News have mentioned Tlaib’s name over 95 times and Omar’s over 60 times, according to Grabien, a television clipping service.
Fox News leads the way referencing Tlaib by her first and last night 196 times and Omar by the same 182 times, totaling 378 mentions since Thursday. Comparatively, CNN stated Tlaib’s name 103 and Omar’s 61 times for 164 total references. CNN just barely beat out MSNBC who mentioned Tlaib’s name 97 times and Omar’s 65 times, for a total of 162 times.
Fox News’ 378 combined mentions of Omar and Tlaib outpaces CNN and MSNBC, which combined for 326 references.
On Monday, Tlaib and Omar held a press conference to address their canceled trip and attacked Trump and the Israeli government. Both Fox News and CNN aired the press conference as it went on, but MSNBC opted not to broadcast it.
