Disingenuous broadcaster Fox News frequently traffics in lies, so no one’s really all that surprised when they gloss over critical details, but even by their shitty standards, the network couldn’t have gotten a simple story about an artist, a mural, and Donald Trump’s mug shot any wronger.
After being mocked by the internet for fawning over the booking photo of inmate #P01135809, Fox News host Jesse Waters stepped in it again, when a segment aired earlier this week of him smugly assuming that Atlanta-based artist Chris Veal was painting a mural honoring Defendant Trump. “The mug shot’s up on the side of buildings in the inner city,” mused Waters. “The 2016 phenomenon is happening all over again.” Except that it’s not.
Unfortunately for Waters, who cribbed a Fox New affiliate’s early reporting, the depiction was a work in progress and Veal still hadn’t put his finishing touches on it in the form of a spray painted caption in a speech bubble that read: “MAGA: My Ass Got Arrested.” The artist told the Huffington Post that he was both shocked and impressed with Fox News’ ability to propagandize his artwork. “When I saw how Fox spun my piece being painted I honestly thought, ‘Man, they’re good.’ To see it spreading all over right-wing media is wild.”
The MAGA media mill had a field day with the unfinished mural, spreading images of it online to push the narrative that a major backlash was brewing on the streets. Professional douchebag Charlie Kirk posted video on Twitter of the artist painting the piece with a wildly misleading caption: “The backfire continues.”
Due to all the interest generated by Fox and friends, the artist is selling prints of the mural and hopes it becomes a teachable moment. “Many people lack basic media literacy and these outlets know it and use it,” he said. “This is just another case of their propaganda and lying to their viewers. I hope one day people learn to see through it all.”
