Fox News’s Howard Kurtz says the network’s ‘wannabe dictator’ chyron ‘went too far’

Howard Kurtz, host of Fox News’s “Media Buzz,” acknowledged the controversy around a Fox News chyron that called President Biden a “wannabe dictator” last week, saying the banner “went too far.”

In a “Media Buzz” segment Sunday that included quick summaries of some of the week’s top stories, Kurtz included a brief description of the Fox News banner controversy, which he delivered to the audience as a straight news story, before pivoting to the next topic.

“Fox News briefly put up a banner that went too far on the day of Donald Trump’s arraignment, referring to President Biden,” Kurtz said on air Sunday before reading the network’s prior response to the controversy. ‘Wannabe dictator speaks at White House after having his political rival arrested.’ Fox said in a statement, ‘The chyron was taken down immediately and was addressed.'”

The chyron garnered significant attention after airing Tuesday. The chyron appeared shortly before 9 p.m. on the day of former President Trump’s arraignment, and it was displayed with a split-screen of Trump and Biden, before the network removed the banner.

Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts related to his handling of classified documents. He is accused of obstruction, willful retention of national defense information, and making false statements to the FBI. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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