Indiana GOP Senate candidate Richard Mourdock ignited a media firestorm Wednesday after he called pregnancies that result from rape “a gift from God.” Mourdock stood by his comments during a press conference Wednesday morning. The outcry has elicited defenses from the Romney campaign and the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, while other Republicans including Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Indiana gubernatorial candidate Mike Pence distanced themselves from Mourdock. Yet, amidst the hubbub, Fox News has chosen to stay silent on the controversy.
As of 1:30 pm, Fox News had not mentioned Richard Mourdock or the word “rape” in connection to Mourdock even once. In comparison, other cable networks are covering Mourdock and the fallout from his comments exhaustively. MSNBC mentioned “rape” in 15 segments about Mourdock, while CNN mentioned it 22 times.
Silence seems to be Fox’s favored tactic for dealing with stories that may be unpalatable for conservatives. When Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) made his highly-covered blunder, claiming that women could not get pregnant from “legitimate rape,” Fox barely mentioned his name. Though Fox may continue to ignore these controversies, stories of Republican candidates’ extreme positions on abortion and contraception are becoming all too common in the news cycle.
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