What do you expect from "Faux" News?

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Tom Ricks to Fox News: The network operates 'as a wing of the Republican Party'
By MACKENZIE WEINGER, November 26, 2012

During a Monday interview on Fox News, author Tom Ricks blasted the network as "operating as a wing of the Republican Party” and accused it of hyping the Benghazi attack for political purposes.

Ricks — who writes a blog for Foreign Policy magazine and is a best-selling author of books such as “Fiasco” and “The Generals” — told Fox News’s Jon Scott “that Benghazi generally was hyped, by this network especially.”

“I think that Benghazi generally was hyped, by this network especially,” Ricks said. “And now that the campaign is over, I think [Sen. John McCain] is backing off a little bit. They’re not going to stop Susan Rice from being Secretary of State.”

Scott pushed back on the accusation that Fox News "hyped" the attack, asking, “When you have four people dead, including the first U.S. ambassador in more than 30 years, how do you call that hype?”

“How many security contractors died in Iraq? Do you know?” Ricks replied.

“I don’t,” Scott said.

“No, nobody does, because nobody cared,” Ricks said. “We know that several hundred died, but there was never an official count done of security contractors dead in Iraq. So when I say this focus on what was essentially a small fire-fight, I think, number one, I’ve covered a lot of fire-fights, it is impossible to figure out what happens in them sometimes.”

Ricks then slammed Fox News again for their Benghazi coverage.

“And second, I think that the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly because Fox was operating as a wing of the Republican Party.

After that, Scott wrapped the interview. "Alright, Tom Ricks. Thanks very much for joining us today," Scott said.

“You’re welcome,” Ricks replied.

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UPDATE: Ricks: Fox 'asked my opinion and I gave it'

Author Tom Ricks said Monday he told a Fox News producer before he went on air he thought the network had "hyped" the Benghazi story and “it should have been no surprise when I said it.”

Ricks told POLITICO “my feeling was that they asked my opinion and I gave it.” The author's Monday interview with Fox News kicked off with him saying, “I think that Benghazi generally was hyped, by this network especially,” and ended after he told Happening Now’s Jon Scott that “the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly because Fox was operating as a wing of the Republican Party.”

“I had told the producer before I went on that I thought the Benghazi story had been hyped. So it should have been no surprise when I said it and the anchor pushed back that I defended my view,” Ricks told POLITICO in an e-mail. “I also have been thinking a lot about George Marshall, the Army chief of staff during World War II, and one of the heroes of my new book. He got his job by speaking truth to power, and I have been thinking that we all could benefit by following his example as much as we can.”

After he went off the air, Ricks said he “saw some surprised faces in the hallway.”

“One staff person said she thought I had been rude. My feeling was that they asked my opinion and I gave it,” Ricks wrote.

Fox News has not yet responded to a request for comment.
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