Paul Ryan grilled over set on Fox board of directors

Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch. Democratic leader Senator Chuck Schumer and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries are demanding that Fox stop, quote, spreading false election narratives, unquote. Jeffries spoke about this earlier today.

Perhaps it's time for America to be able to move past that big lie. And an important step would be those who know it was a big lie to publicly repudiated. This demand comes in the wake of those damaging,.

Damning depositions and communications and Dominion's lawsuit against Fox revealing the top posts and executives knowingly aired and even spoke. Election lies on the network knowing they were lies. Let's discuss with former Democratic South.

Carolina state representative Bakari Sellers along with the editor in chief of The Dispatch, Jonah Goldberg. We should note that Jonah was subpoenaed and deposed by Dominion in this lawsuit against Fox, and we're not going to ask him about that.

He can't talk about it. But Jonah, let me start with you. You can't talk about your deposition, but you can talk about Rupert Murdoch's. You were with Fox for many years. Were you surprised by all the candor and admissions that, yes, we were spreading lies and we knew it was lies,.

But we did it because of money and ratings Yeah. I mean, there's this weird dichotomy between shock and surprise. I'm not really surprised, but Rupert Murdoch. Rupert Murdoch is a canny, smart player.

And when he just baldly says this wasn't about red or blue, this was about green, talking about why he put Mike Lindell the pillow guy back on air, because he's a big advertiser. You can almost hear his, you know,.

Rupert's lawyers taking out the black tar heroin and and tightening in the the center on their arms. I mean, like like it's amazing that he would say some of these things and not try to obfuscate or dodge the Question.

Time and time again, both in the text messages and in the depositions, you have senior Fox executives just saying the quiet part out loud over and over again. And it's really it's it's really compelling, even if there's, you know,.

More that we need to know from the Dominion response because, you know, again, this is essentially a prosecutor is brief, but it's very hard not to see this is as overwhelmingly persuasive on the thrust of it.

So, Bakari, play a little game with me. You'll like it if MSNBC is chair admitted under oath that their hosts lied to their progressive viewers just for ratings about a topic that had caused a deadly riot at the Capitol.

Against a Republican president. What do you think the response would be by Fox or by Republican members of Congress? Oh, they would threaten to burn it completely down. I mean, I think that we all know what that response would be.

And it's unique that you ask that question. And I think it's a very good question because we now know that many of the hosts over at Fox News, the Tucker Carlson, the Sean Hannity, they get the leeway to say whatever.

They want to say, whether or not it has veracity or not. It's it's something that I would argue that Jake Tapper doesn't have is something I would argue that Joy Reid doesn't have, that you just don't have that leeway. And Jake, in your case specifically,.

You don't have that want to go out there and mislead viewers the way that we now know Fox News host and contributors did. And I think that's a fundamental problem. And I think that. And Jonah knows Rupert Murdoch better than I don't know him at all.

He probably doesn't know me from a can of paint. But I would also go a step further and argue that Rupert Murdoch has not only tarnished and damaged his legacy, but he's also done a great deal of damage.

To democracy throughout the world. Or democracies throughout the world, because these lies fundamentally erode what we believe our democracy to be. And the fact that he had his soldiers and lieutenants carrying it out should be a problem. But no, I don't believe any host to CNN.

Or any host at MSNBC particularly can get away with the same things that Tucker and Sean get away with, particularly with these lies. So, Jonah, there's now attention turning toward the Fox board of directors. One of its members,.

Former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, is trying to defend his role behind the scenes in a new interview with Charlie Sykes. Take a listen. If you are on the board of directors of a company that is pumping toxic sludge.

Racism, disinformation and attacks on democracy, if you don't stand up now, then when I do, I have a responsibility off my opinion and perspective. And I do that. But I don't go on and TV and do it right. And so I have a response to you.

I do. I do. So I offer my perspective in my opinion. Often I think Fox is a big part of the constellation. The conservative movement isn't really a solution or the problem. Oh, no. I think it's going to have to be.

A part of the solution if we're going to solve the problem. The conservative movement What do you think, Jonah, is Fox? Obviously, they disagree. Is he part of the problem or part is Fox part of the problem or part of the solution when it comes to conservatives?.

Yeah. I mean, I had this very conversation with Paul Ryan myself. Full disclosure, he's a friend of mine. And I got to say, I disagree with Paul. And to a certain extent, insofar as I think.

Turning the ship around. Look, I was at Fox News for 12 years. I will still defend to this day. A lot of the people on in the news division who, you know, look we know from these filings we're trying to push back on this, which is why Tucker and some people wanted to get them fired.

Because they were fact-checking the nonsense that was coming from the opinion side and that was what was pissing off the executives. So I mean I think it's a more nuanced problem than a lot of people want it to be at the same time.

I think Paul is very sincere and honest when he says that he's counseled this from the get go, that that that this stuff is poisonous to the Fox brand. It's poisonous to conservatism. I just think what the current leadership at Fox, particularly Susan Scott, the CEO who basically just gave the booze.

And car keys to the fastest drivers, is not is not currently situated to make that transition. But yeah, if if if the conservative movement and the Republican Party can't turn Fox around.

And make it a constructive part of American discourse and democracy in journalism, then it's bad for the country, but it's also bad for conservatism. And I think Paul Paul Ryan, at the end of the day, cares a lot. You know, he's a party guy.

He is a movement conservative. He cares about those causes and those institutions. I just think that the task cut out for him to institute reforms from within is is Herculean. McCarthy Last thoughts No, I'm just admiring Jonah's very vivid.

Analogies that he's using the day. But I actually agree I wholeheartedly agree with with what Paul Ryan said, especially when it comes to the fact that if the conservative movement is going to change, if they're going to root out.

These cancers, then Fox is going to be a big part of that. The question I have, though, is can they do that under the leadership of Rupert Murdoch? Can they do that under the current leadership? I think that's the largest question.

That they're reading, those depositions. And Jonah, thanks so much. Appreciate both of you.

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