Long time readers will recognize the name Bruce Bartlett, a Republican member of the Reagan and Bush Administrations, who endorsed Trump in the hopes that, when he lost, the Republican Party would burn down and it could be rebuilt on more rational lines. (There are days I fantasize about using him as a conversational piece with a Trumpist.)
He’s also known for a meta-analysis he performed on a number of studies that concluded that Fox News viewers have, in general, a greatly inferior knowledge base compared to non Fox News viewers.
And now there’s former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and White House chief of staff John F. Kelly, as reported by WaPo:
“The media, in my view, and I feel very strongly about this, is not the enemy of the people,” Kelly said. “We need a free media.” …
“That said, you have to be careful about what you are watching and reading, because the media has taken sides,” he continued. “So if you only watch Fox News because it’s reinforcing what you believe, you are not an informed citizen.”
While accurate, if you believe Bartlett’s analysis was properly done, it won’t have much effect. The Trumpists have been frantically demonizing Kelly almost since he left, notably with White House Press Secretary Grisham utterly discrediting herself in her frantic efforts to ingratiate herself with the new boss; there’s little reason to think Kelly’s statement will have any affect.
But it’s nice to see a Republican Administration ex-official acknowledge the pathology that is Fox News.
