It appears that Fox News? coverage of the 2011 CPAC presidential straw poll announcement was a misrepresentation of the actual events. In the segment of this year?s event featured on Fox News? America?s Newsroom with Martha McCallem and Bill Hemmer, rather than presenting actual footage from the 2011 event, Fox News strangely showed the video of the results of the 2010 CPAC presidential straw poll, in which Paul was declared the victor before a crowd of disgruntled Mitt Romney supporters who loudly booed the results:
During this years presidential straw poll announcement, which again declared Paul to be the winner, the crowd, largely comprised of Ron Paul supporters, loudly applauded and cheered upon hearing the results of the poll, as proven by the video footage found on the CPAC website (Registration is required to view, but is well worth the effort). Coverage of this year’s results from C-SPAN is also found on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9nkTxtRVRU
Why Fox News would misrepresent the crowds reaction to the straw poll results remains unknown.
Following the 2010 footage of the event, which Fox News attempted to pass off as 2011 coverage, Bill Hemmer commented on the audiences negative reaction, In the end, [Paul} was the winner, probably not the reaction he was hoping for.
Hemmer went on to interview Paul regarding the footage and the results, asking, Who was in the audience booing you, did you get a name, did you get an ID on those people?
Unaware that the video footage with which he was presented was in fact from the previous year, Paul had no other response but to say, No, I wasnt there so I didnt watch that little ceremony at the end but it shows you that people are not unanimous on this cause of liberty.
As accurate video evidence reveals, however, there were virtually no boos or antagonistic remarks made in response to Pauls 2011 presidential straw victory, except for a scattered few from Mitt Romneys supporters which spotted the largely Ron Paul crowd.
This appears to be the second time that Fox News has slighted Ron Paul. Last week, a Fox News poll asking its viewers whom they believed to be the best presidential candidate failed to include Ron Pauls name, while a number of those found at the CPAC presidential straw poll were listed.
According to TruthisContagious.com, the slights are not accidental:
While Fox News continues to act as an accommodating platform for the pied pipers of the hijacked tea party movement, people like Tea Party caucus leader Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, real conservatives like Ron Paul and his son Senator Rand Paul are subject to dirty tricks and underhanded ploys.
While that assertion cannot be confirmed, one must wonder what would cause Fox News to commit such a faux pas and whether its clear preference for establishment candidates impacted its journalism in this particular instance.
Photo: The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll desk in Washington on Feb. 12, 2011.
