OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Fox News personalities Greg Gutfeld and Geraldo Rivera sparred again last week, this time over newly ousted Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who became a fan of the Democrats after she joined the Jan. 6 Committee.
Tuesday evening, when it became crystal clear early on that Cheney was going to lose and lose big to Trump-backed attorney Harriet Hageman, Rivera took to Twitter to offer his assessment of the outcome.
“Whatever your politics, we should all recognize Liz Cheney’s selfless courage in standing up to the Trump tidal wave. Wyoming Republicans are going to end her Congressional career today, but nothing will wash away the role she played standing up for democracy and the Constitution,” he wrote.
Whatever your politics, we should all recognize Liz Cheney’s selfless courage in standing up to the Trump tidal wave. Wyoming Republicans are going to end her Congressional career today, but nothing will wash away the role she played standing up for democracy and the Constitution
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) August 16, 2022
Rivera’s take drew a fiery response from Gutfeld.
“[S]crew what millions of voters care about: crime, inflation, the border, bureaucracy & covid -we really should rally around a rich elite who’s settling an emotional score,” he wrote. “NO- her selfish desires killed her political career, as it should. its the opposite of selfless, & she paid.”
screw what millions of voters care about: crime, inflation, the border, bureaucracy & covid -we really should rally around a rich elite who's settling an emotional score. NO- her selfish desires killed her political career, as it should. its the opposite of selfless, & she paid. https://t.co/gMSTCMSJBB
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) August 18, 2022
That led to a response from Rivera: “‘Her selfish desires…?’ Like what, refusing to drink the Trump KoolAid?”
“Her selfish desires…?” Like what, refusing to drink the Trump KoolAid?
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) August 18, 2022
To Gutfeld’s point, Wyoming’s GOP voters appear to have come down on the side of real issues that matter more to them while Cheney appeared to make her reelection campaign all about exacting a political toll on Trump — in a state he won by some 70 percent in 2020.
The online back-and-forth between two co-hosts of the popular Fox News program “The Five” was mild compared to previous face-to-face encounters on the air.
In June, for instance, fireworks between the two erupted during a discussion about the Biden administration’s treatment of Border Patrol agents.
In September, some horseback patrol agents were incorrectly accused of whipping Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas. The agents were exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing, but they will still be disciplined for violating Department of Homeland Security policy.
It is not known what policy they violated or what the discipline they will face, but it had the hosts of “The Five” in a fierce debate.
“In terms of the Border Patrol,” Rivera argued, “this is, you must admit, when you look at this visual — put up a shot, put up any of the shots of that series —”
“No! No! That’s so wrong!” co-host Dana Perino interjected. “You’re a lawyer; how can you say this?”
“Yeah, you’re a lawyer!” Gutfeld said.
“You have four grown-ups, and they’re riding these big horses,” Rivera said. “And you got these people that just walked 5,000 miles risking everything, and now there are these big, macho guys —”
“Oh my God,” Perino responded.
“How would you handle it, Geraldo?” co-host Jesse Watters offered.
“Big macho guy? You can’t even give these guys a little — you know what? Because you can’t even apologize for being wrong on this,” Gutfeld shouted.
Rivera said that he is “delighted that they are not being criminally prosecuted,” but Gutfield responded, “No, you’re not. That’s not true!”
“Don’t tell me what I am feeling. You can have your opinion, but don’t have my opinion,” Rivera said. “I think this whole sorry chapter is better off in the rear view.”
“Because you’re wrong!” Gutfeld said. “Any time you’re wrong, you wish it would be in the rearview mirror, but no, it’s in the front view right now.”
Gutfeld also savaged Cheney following her concession speech for comparing herself to the nation’s first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, while hinting at a possible 2024 presidential run.
“She compared this to the Civil War. She is nuts, ok? She is overtaken with such obsession and such emotional bitterness that she has this kind of grandiose view of herself and it’s actually now getting embarrassing. It’s embarrassing for her. I wish she had a friend that could take her aside and say, ‘You’ve got to calm down.’ Don’t run for office, you’re not going to get a national office,” Gutfeld noted on The Five last week.
“At best, you’re going to get Office Depot. Republicans hate you, the Democrats don’t want you, this all driven by some emotional brokenness that happened from Trump. She goes all the way back to the Civil War — of course, she didn’t mention the Iraq War or the Afghanistan War, because that cuts a little too close to home. Or to dad. And then she compares herself to Abe Lincoln. People say that Trump has an ego, but when he says stuff like that, it’s usually with a wink and then everybody’s laughing,” he added.
