A Fox News host went after his own network on Sunday to condemn the coverage of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher in a government standoff over grazing rights and fees.
MediaBuzz host Howard Kurtz said that Fox News "fell seriously short" in its coverage of Bundy following an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday in which Bundy wondered if black Americans were "better off as slaves" or "under government subsidy."
Kurtz slammed Bundy's "blatantly racist comments" and called out Fox News for giving minimal coverage to his racism even as other networks were covering it aggressively.
"There was virtually no mention of these racist remarks by Cliven Bundy when everybody else was covering it [Thursday]," Kurtz said. "I think that to ignore a major story that was on the front page of the New York Times...I think that gives him ammunition to Fox's detractors."
Fox News has been a major platform for Bundy in recent weeks, with some conservative hosts using his fight to support their own opposition to government overreach. Fox News' Sean Hannity defended Bundy from the beginning, giving him and his wife several interviews on his Fox News show. The network as a whole devoted 4 hours and 40 minutes of coverage to Bundy in its late afternoon and evening programs, according to Media Matters. But, as Huffington Post's Michael Calderone pointed out, the network was largely silent on Thursday when news of the rancher's racism was revealed.
Watch the video to see the clip from Fox News.
(h/t: Media Matters)