Photograph Source: Vateamster – CC BY-SA 4.0

Soon after Donald Trump announced that he was going to propose a one percent tariff on films produced in “foreign lands,” Teamsters’ General President Sean O’Brien rushed to Fox News and proclaimed his eager support. Striking a jovial pose, he was fawned over by America Reports hosts Sandra Smith and John Roberts, who feigned surprise at his support for Trump. They threw softball questions at O’Brien, who said he was working “bipartisan for the betterment of the American worker.”

Fox News programs, whatever time slot, is a peculiar forum to decry “greedy corporations,” outsourcing union jobs and weakening unions, given that Fox News is a notorious right-wing anti-union, international corporate Goliath. Run by the on-going soap opera known as the Murdoch family—mocked by the popular series Succession—Fox News is also pretty upfront with its lurid racism. But, O’Brien is also well aware that Fox is generally, despite some rocky moments, Trump’s favorite media outlet.

O’Brien’s support for Trump’s new round of tariffs follows a now familiar pattern for........

© CounterPunch