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MaddowBlog

From The Rachel Maddow Show

GOP’s James Comer spends an inordinate amount of time on Fox

When the chairman of the House Oversight Committee is on Fox more than Fox’s own hosts, there’s a problem.

By Steve Benen

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has a rare skill that he exercises at every available opportunity: The Kentucky Republican can connect Hunter Biden to just about anything. In fact, Comer appeared on Fox News yesterday morning, suggesting Donald Trump’s possible indictment in New York is intended to distract from the congressman’s Biden-related theories.

Watching this, I was reminded that Comer also appeared on Fox News a few days earlier, peddling thoroughly discredited claims related to Hunter Biden. A day later, there the Oversight Committee chairman was again, making another Fox appearance, pushing the same false allegations.

At face value, it’s certainly discouraging to see a powerful member of Congress so preoccupied with strange ideas regarding the president’s family. But watching these clips, a related question came to mind: Just how often is this guy on Fox?

I didn’t have the answer to that question, so I reached out this morning to Media Matters, which was kind enough to pull together a list of Comer’s Fox appearances from last week:

March 12: an appearance on Fox News in the morning

March 13: an appearance on Fox Business in the late afternoon, then Fox News in the evening

March 14: an appearance on Fox News midday and then again in the evening

March 15: an appearance on Fox News in the evening

March 16: an appearance on Fox Business in the morning, then Fox News in the evening

March 17: an appearance on Fox News midday and then again in the evening

March 19: an appearance on Fox News in the morning

I suppose the obvious joke here is to think someone dropped the ball on March 18, but in all seriousness, this is an astonishing number of Fox hits. Eleven on-air appearances over the course of eight days isn’t just a lot, it means the Oversight Committee chairman was on Fox programming more last week than many of the network’s own hosts.

This does not include, by the way, three other on-air appearances Comer made on Newsmax, a rival conservative network.

A cynic might wonder whether the Republican-led Oversight Committee is focused more on reaching the GOP’s conservative base than doing legitimate work.

Steve Benen

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."