On Wednesday, Fox News hosts Martha MacCallum and Bill Hemmer expressed their disapproval of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign for utilizing modified headlines from various news organizations in advertisements that appear alongside Google search results.
According to a report by Axios, the Harris campaign commenced the use of these altered headlines from sources such as USA Today, NPR, and CNN in sponsored ads on Google earlier in August. MacCallum described the strategy employed by the Harris campaign as “very subtle,” suggesting that it could sway individuals seeking information regarding the candidates’ stances.
“The trick was we’ll make it like an ad and we’ll reframe the headline so that when you are searching, maybe you see the spot, you read the headline, but maybe you don’t understand that it is actually sponsored by the campaign. Show it, guys. Here we go,” Hemmer said. “So this involved, what, they cited CNN, NPR, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, a lot, and you would see this as you were going through your internet search, and um well, that’s cheating.”
Co-host Dana Perino, who previously served as the White House press secretary during the George W. Bush administration, concurred with Hemmer’s evaluation prior to MacCallum’s reply.
“I should point out that Google says there was a glitch in their system, that some of the sort of barriers they tried to put in to make it clear what this is weren’t working. Oops! I wonder if it was true for other campaigns as well. We don’t know that yet, but they say they are looking into that,” MacCallum said. “Just as an example, this is a Guardian headline: ‘VP Harris fights abortion bans. Harris defends reproductive freedom.’”
“Well, those things are true, that’s a factual statement, that is something she backs and supports, but then they have a description under the headline,” MacCallum continued. “So, you know, there’s a headline when you read a news story, and then there is an under headline that you read in a news story, but it says this: ‘VP Harris is a champion for reproductive freedom and will stop Trump’s abortion bans.’ So, the second line in what looks like a news story is actually a campaign slogan, a campaign statement, and, you know, people — we look at so much information, take in so many things so quickly throughout the day, right?”
Watch:
That's Cheating': Fox News Hosts React To Kamala Campaign's 'Manipulative' Google Search Tactic pic.twitter.com/S4gv7wzi8y
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 14, 2024
