Military Analyst: FNC Makes Him Ashamed

Peters said he believed Fox had “degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration.”

He criticized prime-time hosts for “profoundly dishonest assaults” on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community and special counsel Robert Mueller, who is conducting an investigation into the Trump administration’s dealings with Russia. He accused the network of “scaremongering” with lurid warnings of deep-state machinations.

Peters did not mention any names, but Fox’s leading prime-time host, Sean Hannity, has been the most vocal defender of the president while talking of a “deep state” and casting doubt on justice officials. Trump has been an avid watcher of Fox, most notably its morning “Fox & Friends” program. The network is consistently the top-rated cable network each week with a prime-time lineup of Tucker Carlson, Hannity and Laura Ingraham.

The network had an intramural debate of its own last week when news anchor Shepard Smith, who just renewed his contract, said in an interview with Time magazine that Fox’s opinion hosts “don’t really have rules” and can say whatever they want. He said the opinion lineup is there primarily as entertainment. That led Hannity and Ingraham to fire back, saying their shows have made news.

Peters said it appalled him that “hosts who made their reputations as super-patriots” now advance the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin by making light of Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

The retired Army colonel said he did not apply his criticisms to Fox Business, who he called “the grown-ups,” and Fox’s news reporters.