Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has accused former House Speaker Paul Ryan of orchestrating longtime former Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs’ ouster from the Fox News family.
On the first episode of his brand new podcast, “Firebrand,” the Florida congressman on Thursday said that Fox News “isn’t what it used to be” and speculated that the reason why is because of Paul.
“I appreciate the platform Fox News gave me for years. It allowed me to get key information to the country. I have many friends still at Fox News, and I enjoy our discussions, whether they’re on-air or off-air,” he said.
“That said, Fox News isn’t what it used to be, and it probably has something to do with their corporate board member, Paul Ryan,” he added
Two years ago, Fox News’ parent company, Fox Corporation, recruited Ryan to serve on its board of directors. The move sparked massive outcry from conservatives, particularly in light of the network’s then-treatment of host Judge Jeanine Pirro.
“One of my favorite shows on the Fox platform was ‘Lou Dobbs Tonight.’ Sweet, sweet Lou, like America’s angry uncle, politically incorrect sometimes, red in the face and usually right about stuff,” Gaetz continued.
He then played a montage of Dobbs relentlessly bashing Ryan as a “RINO.”
“Now that Paul Ryan has concentrated power at Fox News, Lou Dobbs is no longer on air. He can’t guide the populist right away from the invade everywhere, invite everyone version of Republicanism that sells out to K Street and abandons Main Street,” the congressman then said.
Dobbs was ousted in February a day after the election systems company Smartmatic filed a pre-planned $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox Corp. that named Dobbs as one of several hosts who’d allegedly “irreparably harmed” its reputation by accusing it of committing election fraud.
In a statement, a spokesperson claimed at the time that the discussions over ending the Fox Business Network host’s show had preceded the suit.
“As we said in October, Fox News Media regularly considers programming changes and plans have been in place to launch new formats as appropriate post-election, including on Fox Business. This is part of those planned changes. A new 5 p.m. program will be announced in the near future,” the spokesperson reportedly said.
“Paul Ryan never used his considerable power as speaker for Trump’s wall or other key immigration reforms, but he was able to use his power at Fox News to cancel the great Lou Dobbs,” he said, concluding the part of the podcast about Ryan.
Watch:
This is an excerpt from BizPac Review.
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