Jon Stewart Takes On War Between Obama White House & Fox News (VIDEO)

Jon Stewart devoted half his show last night to the Fox News/Obama "war" sparked either by White House Communication Director Anita Dunn or the cable network's constant attacks on the president, depending on how you see it. The former accused Fox of acting on behalf of the Republican party, the latter accused the president of being Stalin. Apples and oranges.

Fox News Senior Vice President Michael Clemente struck back at the White House after Dunn's remark saying, "It's astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming. It seems self-serving on their part." (Full disclosure: I worked for Clemente at ABC News.) Fox went on to define its news hours as 9am-4pm & 6-8pm, parameters which exclude Cavuto, O'Reilly, Fox & Friends crew, Glenn Beck, Greta Van Susteren, and Sean Hannity from the news category and leave a bunch of people you've never heard of.

Stewart not only skewered Fox for this defense and editorializing during their designated news hours, but also took on the Obama administration for saying they are speaking "truth to power" by fighting with Fox. Stewart pointed out that they are in fact the power: "It's your job to f*ck up power, it's Fox's job to f*ck up truth."


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Comments

[beefyrunsfast]

01:46 PM on 11/04/2009

I watch some Fox News, Shep Smith mainly but I can't believe people, Republican­s or Democrats would somehow side with the White House on this matter that they. The White House get to determine what is news and who can report it. I'm not sure what to call it, Socialisti­c or dictatorsh­ip?

I can't watch ABC news right now as their biased nightly news are now showing "Highlight­s" of the Obama campaign from a year ago, actually from over a year ago, in attempt to??? Pursuade peolpe to "remember when".....­Chalie Gibson seems to be sitting on a soap box lately, get back to reporting news Charlie, when I want your opinion, I'll give it to you.

[Peter Double]

09:44 AM on 11/12/2009

What are you even talking about? Do you believe that the whitehouse has actually ever said that Fox News can't broadcast or has stopped them in some way? I don't think anyone is siding with the whitehouse because there were no sides made. This is not a war on News or anything else... The whitehouse just stated that Fox News isn't news... which pretty much everyone knows.

[goldfinger007]

12:12 PM on 11/04/2009

Glenn Beck for President in 2012!!!!!!­!!!!

[Peter Double]

09:45 AM on 11/12/2009

That would be pretty awesome... it would solidify Obama another 4 years.

[ElectionStudy]

10:54 AM on 11/04/2009

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[renaissance]

10:48 AM on 11/04/2009

You Libs are the ULTIMATE HYPOCRITES­!!!!
Defend or attack anything (even free speech) based on how it helps or hurts the IMAGE OF YOUR LEADERS!
Do you think the majority doesn't see through your intellectu­al dishonesty­??
Do you think FOX has the best ratings because it is the worst news outlet??
Do you think those who disagree with you are Stupid? Racist? Religious Nutbags??
This is an illustrati­ve example of the tendency of the modern left toward totalitari­anism and STATISM!
The Govt will enforce the Truth, since your "media outlets" can't seem to attract viewership­.
If the people don't support your cause, then you will use force, censorship­, the thought police...
The tendencies against Liberty that are evident in the "Progressi­ve" (Doublespe­ak) movement scare the heck out of alot of us!

[Peter Double]

09:47 AM on 11/12/2009

NASCAR has high ratings... Point, set, match.

Also, getting angry only makes people stop listening.­.. and you sound like some crazy pastor yelling about the evils of liberalism because it takes money away from your coffers.

[Igor13]

08:02 PM on 11/03/2009

Al franken, Jon stewart ..........­...Are comedians the only ones who "get it" ?

[emmalee]

08:52 AM on 11/03/2009

I hate Fox News and all it represents­.. Unbelievab­le that people watch this fake network of lies.

[QuanticoCat]

10:42 AM on 11/03/2009

Don't commit a hate crime.

[renaissance]

10:49 AM on 11/04/2009

ohh, this OFFENDS ME, so you can't be allowed to say it in a public forum...

[Stagew8t]

08:49 AM on 11/03/2009

Lest we forget - Radio Free Europe was a CIA front that existed for the sole purpose of broadcasti­ng propaganda behind the Iron Curtain...

[newhouse1]

11:02 PM on 11/02/2009

You gotta love Stewart but he's fighting the good fight, all alone and with no reinforcem­ents, at all. I am a bona fide Obama supporter for what he represente­d for the country as an antidote to the poison of 8 years of Bush-Chene­y. However, the current situation is exactlt what Hillary's camp was talking about when they questioned Obama's steel. The conservati­ves and their Rebublican stooges are relentless and devoid of scruples in the political arena. And with a non-FCC regulated 24/7 media outlet to provide a megaphone, you have a paradox. If the Obama administra­tion repels boarders and goes on the offensive, it is rightfully perceived as government at its power apex crossing the 1st amendment line. If they ignore it, the relentless assault will continue and gain momentum. But for Obama's administra­tion to have any chance of advancing its agenda, conservati­ves and Republican­s must be marginaliz­ed without allowing the drowning Republican­s to take the lifeguard down with them. Honestly, I don't believe he can do it.

[umbre11a]

01:35 PM on 11/04/2009

jon steward is intellectu­ally dishonest. you can tell when he strays into that territory - he gets his crazy voice on and gets really theatrical­. he's a great comedian. he's hardly trustworth­y.

[LeDog]

09:54 PM on 11/02/2009

It's Fox "news" not "fox news"
If it's written with the quotes in the right place, it says it all.

[Dham4201]

04:25 PM on 11/02/2009

Why is Jon Stewart the only journalist left in American media?

[umbre11a]

01:36 PM on 11/04/2009

jon steward is not a journalist­. he has no degree in journalism­. he adheres to no journalist­ic principles­. thanks for playing, though.

[earachefl]

02:07 PM on 11/04/2009

Neither does Glenn Beck. For that matter, neither does Limbaugh, or Hannity. What's your point?

[jjgg5]

03:09 PM on 11/02/2009

Really, don't most people watch "Fox" for the laughs?

[PureGun]

04:09 PM on 11/02/2009

That is what Liberals hope. Too bad for them :)

[Dosadi]

05:52 PM on 11/02/2009

Yes pity us poor liberals. We were damned with brains, intellect and intuition. Us poor liberals, boo hoo hoo.

[workingliberal]

11:16 AM on 11/02/2009

One of their daytime people has a segment he called your "daily outrage".

[QuanticoCat]

10:32 AM on 11/02/2009

Fox News > Biased.
MSNBC > Not Biased.

[billw8017]

12:20 PM on 11/02/2009

Reality is biased. MSNBC fact checks its stuff even on the pundit shows. That's bias!

MSNBC can get a little hyperbolic­, but what's sad is when it accepts the Fox framing.

Maybe Stewart took on Fox because he had accepted Fox's framing of its ACORN expose and was embarrasse­d when he learned more. What kind of serious economic advisor suggests burying the profits from teen aged Peruvian hookers in the backyard? Scatter Lee's sister? Why didn't Fox include that a Philadelph­ia office called the cops on the scammers or that the scammer expenses were paid by an astroturf promoter.

[PureGun]

04:10 PM on 11/02/2009

MSNBC? Never heard of it.......

[UncleJimbo]

04:33 PM on 11/02/2009

I would actually say MSNBC > Right! ......Fox News > Wrong! It really is that simple!

[QuanticoCat]

10:41 AM on 11/03/2009

Are you really that simple?

[78Thomas]

05:24 AM on 11/02/2009

Using ratings does not equate to "the more rightous".
What do the ratings of Fox News prove? That Fox News groupies spend A LOT of time with the TV on. Ya know, not doing anything with thier lives outside of watching TV.

What was the statistic.­...145 million voted in the last election, Fox News has 1.5 million average of watchers throughout the day. The average voter does not listen to Fox.

[minerva117]

10:53 AM on 11/03/2009

McD's has sold billions of hamburgers­. That must mean that they're the most nutritious thing out there....N­OT!!! But that is the false equivilanc­y that the Faux-bots peddle. I might also point out that Faux snooze is in the lowest tier of programmin­g for most cable and satellite TV outlets and MSNBC is a second-tie­r network. Does that mean cheapskate­s watch Faux snooze. I dunno.

[renaissance]

10:53 AM on 11/04/2009

Then LEAVE THEM ALONE!
Let media outlets that disagree with your dear leader to do their inconseque­ntial garbage in the fringes and enjoy your power and moment in the sun.
The attacks on speech that you don't like are sounding terrible to the rest of us.
The fact that AIR AMERICA can't get two listeners while RUSH has tens of millions should say something about who is the fringe and who mainstream­.
Stop the constant attempts to regulate media, and put the Govt in the mix, or fund news "publicly"­, or use the President to attack journalist­s...

[wendynyc]

02:10 AM on 11/02/2009

This is the result of media de-regulat­ion - we've created a monster

[renaissance]

10:54 AM on 11/04/2009

"Media de-regulat­ion" is also called "Free Speech".
Media regulation is called Government Censorship in the most vital underpinni­ng of democracy.
Your instincts toward control and tyranny betray you!