Fox’s Howard Kurtz Under Fire For Claiming Melania Has Been Treated Worse Than Other First Ladies
Following a Friday night segment on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle in which he insisted that First Lady Melania Trump has been subjected to worse treatment than any other first lady in modern history, Fox News media analyst Howard Kurtz has faced withering criticism over his claim. In the wake of the backlash, Kurtz has tried to clarify himself, stating that while some pundits and opponents said awful things about Michelle Obama, the mainstream media coverage Mrs. Trump has received has been worse.
Reacting to Melania’s interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity last week, Kurtz told host Laura Ingraham that the first lady is “subjected to a particularly brutal kind of treatment and mockery.” After highlighting speculative reporting about Melania’s living situation and late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmell making fun of her accent, Kurtz definitively stated that “no other modern First Lady has been treated like this.”
Howard Kurtz: "Melania is subjected to a particularly brutal kind of treatment and mockery… No other modern First Lady has been treated like this." pic.twitter.com/OQ6xds38SJ
— Contemptor (@TheContemptor) December 14, 2018
After the clip began to make the rounds on Twitter, a number of reporters, journalists, commentators and pundits fired back at Kurtz’s claim, reminding him of the way recent first ladies Obama and Hillary Clinton were treated during their times in the White House.
If only @HowardKurtz had been alive in the 1990s. https://t.co/zMeN8QccQO
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) December 16, 2018
Howard Kurtz, 1998: Conservatives called Hillary a murderer and shot guns at pictures of her.
Howard Kurtz, 2018: No First Lady has ever been attacked like Melania Trump. pic.twitter.com/U4QDDBMmcb
— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser) December 14, 2018
Michelle Obama was regularly compared to an ape or man but sure Jan https://t.co/sso7ssMwx4
— Zerlina Maxwell (@ZerlinaMaxwell) December 14, 2018
Republicans literally accused Michelle Obama of secretly being a man https://t.co/j9OJGOU6ad
— jordan (@JordanUhl) December 14, 2018
honestly nobody cares abt Melania. Hillary and Michelle were brutalized by right-wing media for 16 yrs as First Ladies https://t.co/I6GKI2RgBh
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) December 14, 2018
You had nothing to say when Michelle Obama was called a man, was called an Ape, when she was accused of disrespecting the White House for showing her bare shoulders. I actually agree with you that Melania shouldn’t even be the focus as her husband directs a criminal enterprise. https://t.co/o60t1ISHeV
— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) December 16, 2018
Yes, she was called “ape” and accused of being a man.
Oh, wait, @HowardKurtz, that was Michelle Obama, wasn’t it? And that’s what Republican politicians said in public. https://t.co/MjUl8DGml7
— Janet Johnson (@JJohnsonLaw) December 14, 2018
Hey, @HowardKurtz, First Lady Hillary Clinton was accused of having a marriage of political convenience; of being a serial liar; of killing Vince Foster (none of which were true). So, please, give me a break. https://t.co/Sa1OW5c59m
— Patti Solis Doyle (@PattiSolisDoyle) December 14, 2018
HuffPost contributor and Occupy Democrats’ host Brian Tyler Cohen put together a short video reminding Kurtz of how Fox News and right-wing media viciously mocked Michelle Obama.
Howard Kurtz: "Melania is subjected to a particularly brutal kind of treatment and mockery… No other modern First Lady has been treated like this."
…You mean like this? pic.twitter.com/Tbzvx26oqQ
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) December 14, 2018
And the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty put together a thread highlighting how it was the norm for other first ladies to be mocked and brutalized by the public and the press.
Actually, mockery and brutality is more the norm than the exception for modern first ladies, the bush wives being an exception. In 1992 (even before Bill was elected), a poll found only 22% of Americans thought the Clintons had a "real marriage." Maureen Dowd called HRC 1/3 https://t.co/izaqog2aav
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) December 16, 2018
"the single most degraded wife in the history of the world." She was burned in effigy during the 94 campaign. My research into Nancy Reagan confirms she had a very rough go, both with the Queen Nancy stuff, and the mockery of her devoted "gaze" when she looked at RR. 2/3
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) December 16, 2018
Go further back, and you will find Eleanor Roosevelt, Edith Wilson and Mary Todd Lincoln also got battered in public opinion. Frances Cleveland raised some eyebrows when she married Grover, who was 28 years her senior.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) December 16, 2018
And of course, the racism to which Michelle Obama was subjected is a category entirely unto itself.
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) December 16, 2018
And here's an Edith Wilson/Nancy Reagan twofer (with a Rosalyn Carter bankshot) from Bill Safire in 1987: pic.twitter.com/qe1TxHatiR
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) December 16, 2018
Kurtz, meanwhile, responded to the criticism on Sunday afternoon, tweeting out that “certain pundits & opponents said awful & racist things about Michelle O, not disputing that.” However, he insisted, the “mainstream *news* coverage of Melania is much worse, don’t conflate the two.”
Folks, certain pundits & opponents said awful & racist things about Michelle O, not disputing that. The mainstream *news* coverage of Melania is much worse, don't conflate the two
— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) December 16, 2018
That response was met with even more criticism. Pod Save America’s Dan Pfeiffer, who worked in the Obama White House, noted that “[c]ertain opponents” included Fox News.
Certain opponents including @HowardKurtz’s employer https://t.co/fooEByV8Xe
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) December 16, 2018
And ABC News chief political analyst Matthew Dowd said that “it was Fox News that attacked Michelle Obama” while calling on Kurtz to name the mainstream media outlets that are currently attacking Mrs. Trump.
Again it was Fox News that attacked Michelle Obama. Name the mainstream media that is “attacking” Melania. You might spend more time fixing your workplace than in pointing fingers at others.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) December 16, 2018
“You might spend more time fixing your workplace than in pointing fingers at others,” Dowd added.
