With the firing of political editor Chris Stirewalt, "Fox News is bolstering its batty programming while kneecapping its journalism," says Erik Wemple. "...Key personnel such as Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, Bartiromo and Lou Dobbs propelled this fantasy — and generated sustenance for those who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6. At any other news organization, management would be facing a revolt over such madness. Yet their Fox News colleagues continue working as if nothing had happened." Wemple says only Baier and Wallace have the standing to speak out against their Fox News opinion colleagues. "Yet Baier and Wallace keep quiet," he says, adding: "Talents such as Baier and Wallace work at Fox News in the capacity of fig leaves. They provide cover — righteous distractions — from the horror that goes down on the opinion hours. This is a dichotomy hatched by Ailes, who realized that he could get away with lunacy at night if he balanced it with something approaching sanity during the day. Baier and Wallace, accordingly, serve as highly paid enablers whose silence allows Fox News to flit from one crisis to the next. Talents such as Baier and Wallace work at Fox News in the capacity of fig leaves. They provide cover — righteous distractions — from the horror that goes down on the opinion hours. This is a dichotomy hatched by Ailes, who realized that he could get away with lunacy at night if he balanced it with something approaching sanity during the day. Baier and Wallace, accordingly, serve as highly paid enablers whose silence allows Fox News to flit from one crisis to the next."
