The former Obama employee is fed up with the conservative channel calling him a “communist.”
Fox News has been haranguing liberals for years now, and most of them have just learned to ignore it. “It’s a channel for crazy people,” one might say, while others have taken to calling it “Faux News” and leaving it at that. One man, however, has decided to fight back. Van Jones, President Obama’s former Green Jobs adviser who was forced to resign after his name was found on a “9/11 truther” petition, sent a letter this week to Fox. In it, he demanded the channel “cease and desist” making wild claims about him or he says he’s going to pursue legal action.
Many Fox News personalities have denounced Jones—Bill O’Reilly called him a “far left kook, communist guy”—but Glenn Beck seems particularly obsessed with the climate expert. Beck has called Jones a “radical revolutionary” and harps on the danger of Jones’ involvement with government. Jones has in the past admitted to having an interest in Communism, but he’s since abandoned the pursuit. Alas, that hasn’t stopped Fox.
“Mr. Jones is not a member of any Communist Party or Marxist organization whatsoever, and has not expressed any support for any form of Communist or Marxist ideology for many years,” Jones’ attorney, Joseph Sandler, wrote. “[Such statements] are demonstrably and unequivocally false.”
Beck also once accused Jones of being a convicted felon, an inaccurate allegation that months later he finally apologized for. At other times on Fox, Jones, who is African-American, has been denigrated as “violent” and “racist,” and he’s also been accused of supporting violence against police officers. Basically, if Fox News is to be believed, Van Jones is a crazy Black nationalist rather than a fellow at the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress.
Fox News hasn’t yet responded to Jones’ letter, but it will be exciting to see if the message has any impact. It’s important for Jones to do what he’s doing, and it might make Fox reconsider the next time it attempts to present outright lies.
(Photo: UPI/Jim Ruymen/Landov)
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