History Main / FoxNewsLiberal

* ''Series/{{Yellowstone}}'': While the series has a somewhat inaccurate reputation as a conservative show, its treatment of environmental activism in season 4 doesn't help. Summer Higgins is introduced as the ringleader of a large group of environmental protestors, yet in conversation, she's never able to mount even a paltry defense of her beliefs. Characterized as an insufferable GranolaGirl, she spends her entire screen time getting trounced in conversation with regular cast members, learning to appreciate their opposing point of view, and getting easily manipulated.

* In ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', Will joins a group protesting the closure of a community centre in a majority-black neighbourhood, and gives an interview about it to a news anchor. When he watches the broadcast, it turns out that most of the interviews are with middle-aged white people who claim the centre is a source of crime and urban decay, and rather than Will, the protesters are represented by an AngryBlackMan who yells at the camera, the implication being that the news channel is trying to skew the coverage and scare white viewers.

In another formulation, the Fox News Liberal may be presented as the OnlySaneMan with their particular political views. In appearing to be swayed by the 'superior' reasoning of their co-hosts, and agreeing with the position of the show, they make 'their' side look 'unreasonable'. Expect a heartfelt and theatrical sigh, followed by the words "If only the rest of them were as [[YouKeepUsingThatWord reasonable]] as this one is, the world would be a better place!" In particularly egregious cases of this version of the trope, the character's forsaking their ([[YouKeepUsingThatWord unreasonable]]) ideological beliefs and political allegiances (in favour of better/'the correct' ones) constitutes CharacterDevelopment.

* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Politically Inept with Homer Simpson", where a network executive tells Homer that they only have a few political pundits on staff, including their progressive strawman. Cut to an over the top left-wing stereotype singing "Oh, the plain and simple fact is, I'd love to raise your taxes and make your children gay..."

* In ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', Will joins a group protesting the closure of a community centre in a majority-black neighbourhood, and gives an interview about it to a news anchor. When he watches the broadcast, it turns out that most of the interviews are with middle-aged white people who claim the centre is a source of crime and urban decay, and rather than Will, the protesters are represented by a ScaryBlackMan who yells at the camera, the implication being that the news channel is trying to skew the coverage and scare white viewers.

* In-universe, one episode of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' has Archie Bunker complain to a local TV station about [[UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics a pro-gun-control editorial]]. After he confronts the station manager, he's offered airtime to present an opposing view, with the clear implication that the manager is cynically satisfying the letter of the then-extant Fairness Doctrine while making the pro-gun side of the argument look bad.

* Alan Colmes was accused of this when he co-hosted ''Hannity and Colmes'' with Sean Hannity on [[Creator/FoxNewsChannel Fox News]], and might be the UrExample of this trope. The show was the poster child for the channel's "[[BlatantLies Fair and Balanced]]" tagline, as the two ostensibly took on issues from different ends of the political spectrum. However, Hannity is a hard-right, conservative Republican, while Colmes is a self-described moderate, so it really seemed that Colmes' purpose was to make Hannity look good. Creator/AlFranken rakes Colmes over the coals for this in his book, ''Lies, and the Lying Liars that Tell Them'', including a RunningGag of printing Hannity's name in large text and Colmes' name in small text (which was later adopted by Wiki/RationalWiki). That said, Colmes defended liberalism strongly himself in his own book, ''Red, White and Blue Liberal''.

Otherwise known as a DINO ('''D'''emocrat '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly), a 'Fox News Liberal' is an [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies ideological]] [[TheWarOnStraw Strawman]] character who is used to bring the ''illusion'' of political balance in a narrative or discourse that is otherwise overwhelmingly slanted in the other direction. Named after a critique of the Creator/FoxNewsChannel, a United States news organization with mostly right-wing programming, it has an opposite counterpart in the 'MSNBC Conservative' -- named for a competing left-leaning US news organization -- or RINO ('''R'''epublican '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly). A conservative or RINO pundit or politician appearing on Creator/{{CNN}}, Creator/{{MSNBC}}, Creator/{{PBS}}, Creator/{{NPR}} or the Sunday morning talk shows is also referred to as a [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Very_Serious_People Very Serious Person]] (VSP).

* On the other end of the spectrum, Creator/GregEgan is spectacularly bad at making religious characters who aren’t MSNBC conservatives. “Literature/{{Oracle}}” actually has a C. S. Lewis {{expy}} as the antagonist, who CannotTellFictionFromReality and ''immediately'' assumes, after seeing an exhibition of {{The Hero}}’s advanced technology, that he is consorting with devils, and that the woman he hands around ''is'' a devil. (She is actually a time traveler who gave the hero advanced technology to stop mankind from destroying itself.)

* Creator/CSLewis was a master of writing the “OnlySaneMan who eventually converts to the author’s views” type, with them appearing in his novels whenever he needs a non-Christian or non-conservative who isn’t in league with Satan. Notable examples are Eustace Scrub from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', whose entire CharacterDevelopment in his debut is him learning to reject his straw-liberal parents’ denial of objective truth and ceases to be a bully as a result, and [=MacPhee=] from ''Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy'' whose atheism comes off as SuspiciouslySpecificDenial once [[FlatEarthAtheist the angels show up]], and who was made an atheist solely so Lewis couldn’t be accused of saying ScienceIsBad. The conclusion to be drawn here is that Lewis may have been a great writer, but couldn’t pass the [[https://www.econlib.org/archives/2011/06/the_ideological.html ideological Turing test]] if his life depended on it.

* ''Literature/TriggerWarning'', an anti-progressive screed masquerading as a "[[DieHardOnAnX Die Hard on a campus]]" airport thriller, features exactly one sympathetic progressive character: Pierce Connors. When he gets kidnapped with the other college snowflakes, Pierce realizes that he has an opportunity to fight back and reflects that his fellow progressives always wait for the government to try to solve everything rather than do anything themselves. He decides to actually do something this time and become a hero. In other words, his purpose in the novel is to be a progressive who highlights the hypocrisy of progressives by breaking with their ranks.

It's also very common for them to admit [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality the solutions proposed by people with the (what their superiors consider to be) 'correct' political views are basically good and desirable]], but quibble about the details or minutiae of their 'correct' policies.[[note]]e.g. "[[PragmaticVillainy You're right, we 'should' kill everyone over sixty to solve the pensions crisis. ''However'', we should do this by issuing licences to unpaid volunteer-executioners so these 'Useless Mouths' can be eliminated at no cost to the taxpayer. 'My kind' are, after all, opposed to the use of the taxpayer's money to execute genocide."]] [[/note]]

Like any straw man trope, the *INO character's job is to seem to be representing one point of view while actually promoting the opposite through the provision of a spectacularly bad advocate and/or role model. What makes a Fox News Liberal/MSNBC Conservative different from other straw men is that they are not playing a satirical or sarcastic role, and they aren't playing a fictional character.

* Music/PhilOchs' "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" (later covered with updated lyrics by Music/JelloBiafra and Music/MojoNixon) is a scathing attack on RealLife Fox News Liberals who espouse left-wing causes until it becomes dangerous or distasteful to them personally.

* {{Parodied|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Politically Inept with Homer Simpson", where a network executive tells Homer that they only have a few political pundits on staff, including their liberal strawman. Cut to an over the top left-wing stereotype singing "Oh, the plain and simple fact is, I'd love to raise your taxes and make your children gay..."

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

Otherwise known as a DINO ('''D'''emocrat '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly), a 'Fox News Liberal' is an [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies ideological]] [[TheWarOnStraw Strawman]] character who is used to bring the ''illusion'' of political balance in a narrative or discourse that is otherwise overwhelmingly slanted in the other direction. Named after a critique of the Creator/FoxNewsChannel, a United States news organization with conservative-leaning opinion programming, it has an opposite counterpart in the 'MSNBC Conservative' -- named for a competing left-leaning US news organization -- or RINO ('''R'''epublican '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly). A conservative or RINO pundit or politician appearing on Creator/{{CNN}}, Creator/{{MSNBC}}, Creator/{{PBS}}, Creator/{{NPR}} or the Sunday morning talk shows is also referred to as a [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Very_Serious_People Very Serious Person]] (VSP).

'''Rep. Alex Shrub:''' So you suggest we just stop making babies? People need a place to park their boat and trailer and to put their swimming pool! You're beginning to sound red, and by that, I mean [[RedScare you prefer a hammer and sickle over a hamburger.]]

Otherwise known as a DINO ('''D'''emocrat '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly), a 'Fox News Liberal' is an [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies ideological]] [[TheWarOnStraw Strawman]] character who is used to bring the ''illusion'' of political balance in a narrative or discourse that is otherwise overwhelmingly slanted in the other direction. Named after a critique of the Creator/FoxNewsChannel, a United States news organization with conservative-leaning opinion programming, it has an opposite counterpart in the 'MSNBC Conservative' -- named for a competing left-leaning US news organization -- or RINO ('''R'''epublican '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly). A conservative or RINO pundit appearing on Creator/{{CNN}}, Creator/{{MSNBC}}, Creator/{{PBS}}, or Creator/{{NPR}} is also referred to as a [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Very_Serious_People Very Serious Person]] (VSP).

* {{Parodied}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Politically Inept with Homer Simpson", where a network executive tells Homer that they only have a few political pundits on staff, including their liberal strawman. Cut to an over the top left-wing stereotype singing "Oh, the plain and simple fact is, I'd love to raise your taxes and make your children gay..."

It's also very common for them to admit [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality the solutions proposed by people with the (what their superiors consider to be) 'correct' political views are basically good and desirable]], but quibble about the details or minutiae of their 'correct' policies.[[note]] e.g. "[[PragmaticVillainy You're right, we 'should' kill everyone over sixty to solve the pensions crisis. ''However'', we should do this by issuing licences to unpaid volunteer-executioners so these 'Useless Mouths' can be eliminated at no cost to the taxpayer. 'My kind' are, after all, opposed to the use of the taxpayer's money to execute genocide."]] [[/note]]

It's also very common for them to admit [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality the solutions proposed by people with the (what their superiors consider to be ) 'correct' political views are basically good and desirable]], but quibble about the details or minutiae of their 'correct' policies. [[note]] e.g. "[[PragmaticVillainy You're right, we 'should' kill everyone over sixty to solve the pensions crisis. ''However'', we should do this by issuing licences to unpaid volunteer-executioners so these 'Useless Mouths' can be eliminated at no cost to the taxpayer. 'My kind' are, after all, opposed to the use of the taxpayer's money to execute genocide."]] [[/note]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

'''Rep. Alex Shrub:''' So you suggest we just stop making babies? People need a place to park their boat and trailer and to put their swimming pool! You're beginning to sound red, and by that I mean [[RedScare you prefer a hammer and sickle over a hamburger.]]

Otherwise known as a DINO ('''D'''emocrat '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly), a 'Fox News Liberal', is an [[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies ideological]] [[TheWarOnStraw Strawman]] character who is used to bring the ''illusion'' of political balance in a narrative or discourse that is otherwise overwhelmingly slanted in the other direction. Named after a critique of the Creator/FoxNewsChannel, a United States news organization with conservative-leaning opinion programming, it has an opposite counterpart in the 'MSNBC Conservative' -- named for a competing left-leaning US news organization -- or RINO ('''R'''epublican '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly). A conservative or RINO pundit appearing on Creator/{{CNN}}, Creator/{{MSNBC}}, Creator/{{PBS}}, or Creator/{{NPR}} is also referred to as a [[http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Very_Serious_People Very Serious Person]] (VSP).

It's also very common for them to admit [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality the solutions proposed by people with the (what their superiors consider to be ) 'correct' political views are basically good and desirable]], but quibble about the details or minutae of their 'correct' policies. [[note]] e.g. "[[PragmaticVillainy You're right, we 'should' kill everyone over sixty to solve the pensions-crisis. ''However'', we should do this by issuing licences to unpaid volunteer-executioners so these 'Useless Mouths' can be eliminated at no cost to the taxpayer. 'My kind' are, after all, opposed to the use of the taxpayer's money to execute genocide."]] [[/note]]

The common thread is that their status as an official representative of their ideology is used to reinforce the ideology and/or viewpoints advanced by all the other co-hosts in general, and the show as a whole. Being a token socialist or liberal on a panel show - wherein there are representatives of 'numerous' ideologies - doesn't count if the show itself doesn't have a political-ideological slant. Also, keep in mind that a Fox News Liberal ''might be sincere'', having been given the job because they're singularly ineffective at presenting their viewpoint.

* The ''DCU: Decisions'' election issues were designed around superheroes expressing political opinions about the 2008 election. The problem was that all of the Presidential candidates were fictional and there was no real sense of anything they stood for. Green Arrow ''seemed'' to be voting for the Green Party and Lois Lane seemed to be Republican (or possibly a Libertarian?) but everyone else's opinion was just obtuse. In the end it seemed to come to a conservative-leaning writer (Bill Willingham) and a liberal-leaning writer (Judd Winick) picking heroes like they were choosing players for their kickball team. Needless to say, the whole story caused a FlameWar. Green Arrow's (left wing) and Hawkman's (right wing) political views were already well-established for years, but the idea of ascribing definite political views to all the other characters resulted in fans hysterically fighting over which characters "should" or "shouldn't" belong to which party.

* Mrs. Bingham and the other "strong women" on the Confederation's side in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}''. They appear to be intended to show that women in the Confederation aren't oppressed, and do have agency and power, which sort of works (to a point)—but they seemingly only ever use that agency to push an anti-feminist agenda.

** Arnold Vinick, the Republican Presidential nominee in the final season, rejects enough Republican principles that it's almost impossible the real-life Republican Party would nominate him for President. He's pro-choice and not at all religious, although he's a big believer in economic conservatism, as in big tax cuts and reducing the size of government. Vinick's strong economic conservatism would not go far in the Democratic Party, and he's not extreme enough to be accepted by the Libertarian Party, so he's more of a Republican than anything else. Of course, he's from California, where Arnold Schwarzenegger, with similar views, was successful as a Republican politician, so his being a Republican Senator is believable. But as for his presidential nomination, it's telling that the nomination fight itself happens completely off-camera. WordOfGod says Vinick was based on John [=McCain=], who at the time of the show held similar views, though [=McCain=] was strongly pro-life. And [=McCain=] ''did'' win the 2008 nomination of his party, but by the time of the 2008 election he had shifted considerably to the right.

* The French [[PoliceProcedural Police show]] ''P.J'' has Chloé Matthieu, who is a Fox News ''fascist'' -- she starts as a member of a far-right police union, her uncle ran an election for a far-right party (not named, but probably [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_National_%28France%29 this]] real life one), she seems to hate anything and anyone having a common point with Arabs, Muslims, human beings with dark skin, homosexuals... Yet she manages to become good friends with Muslims and/or black policemen, has a child with a black man, works part time in a lesbian bar, asked a bisexual colleague to help her take care of her child when she has to work late, and implicitly admits that most of her opinions are bogus. This is a case of the trope being used as character development: she starts as a straw man, and then progressively realizes how evil her beliefs are during the course of the show.

** The main character, Will [=McAvoy=], a news anchor who identifies as a moderate Republican and had been a speechwriter for UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush, repeatedly criticizes the current state of the Republican Party. He lists his conservative views, such as being for small government and strong defense, but also espouses a number of other views throughout the show that are pretty liberal, such as being anti-gun, pro-environment and pro-gay. He spends most of the show railing against Republican politicians (such as Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum and the entire Tea Party) who he feels have hijacked the party.

* {{Parodied}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Politically Inept with Homer Simpson", where a network executive tells Homer that they only have a few political pundits on staff, including their liberal strawman. Cut to an over the top left-wing stereotype singing "Oh, the plain and simple fact is, I'd love to raise your taxes, and make your children gay..."

** This brought a unique real-life case of MisaimedFandom as several black neoconservatives, notably Clarence Thomas, would cite the comic as a favorite. This upset writer Dwayne McDuffie as he was ''not'' a fan of Thomas, often insulting him as "Scalia's lapdog" among other things. This gave McDuffie writer's block as he was concerned he was just giving quotes to the movement he disliked.