Here at the Skeptic’s blog we have long promised to expose examples of propaganda where we find it, and nothing could be much more delicious than catching Fox News redhanded.

As some of you may recall, Donald Trump disinvited the Philadelphia Eagles from the White House since it became obvious that fewer than 10 players were going to show up.[1]

The Donald, to fire up his base, turned it into a patriotic exercise, and Fox News, to pour gasoline on the flames, showed a picture of a praying Zach Ertz and another picture of a group of players praying as proof that they had kneeled in disrespect of the anthem.

The only problem was, the Philadelphia Eagles are one of the few teams that had no players kneel during the anthem throughout the entire 2017-18 season.

Oops.

I’m not sure if Fox News didn’t think that any of the players would notice the discrepancy, or if they were just so eager to rush in with their extra container of gasoline that they didn’t have time to check the facts.

So there it is, my friends. Propaganda in action. If the lie hadn’t been so obvious, they probably would have gotten away with it. I’m sure there are still millions of Fox viewers and Trump supporters who will continue to believe that the praying players were out there disrespecting the flag.

[1] In the middle of their contentious NBA play-off, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors have already agreed on one thing: neither team is going to the White House when either one wins the championship. Courtesy of LeBron James and Steph Curry.