Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy suggested without pushback Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s administration is puppet-mastered by former President Barack Obama.
The persistent conspiracy theory among right-wingers, which Campos-Duffy has amplified before, made its way into a “Fox & Friends” discussion about Biden’s age and capability.
“We know that the staff is running the show, and whoever puts the stuff in the teleprompter is actually the president of the United States,” co-host Steve Doocy said.
“Well, Obama and Valerie Jarrett are running the show from Kalorama,” Campos-Duffy chimed in, referring to Obama’s former senior adviser and the neighborhood in Washington, D.C., where Obama owns a home. “We all know that.”
The other co-hosts didn’t push back on Campos-Duffy’s remark, though they did laugh.
Campos-Duffy seems to have previously hinted at Obama and Jarrett’s supposed influence via X, the former Twitter.
Her claim on Wednesday puts her in tinfoil-hat territory with her Fox colleague Maria Bartiromo, who platformed the Obama speculation in a November interview. The baseless scuttlebutt has been used by conservatives to bolster their assertions that Biden, 81, is too old to do the job unassisted.
Wednesday’s discussion began with a chat about a recent Time article in which Biden deflected concerns about his age and playfully challenged the reporter to a fight. The “F&F” hosts then moved on to a Wall Street Journal report ― titled “Behind Closed Doors, Biden Shows Signs Of Slipping” ― that relied heavily on unnamed Republican sources.
Campos-Duffy said she supported Donald Trump’s request to have Biden drug-tested before any debate between them. The former president and presumptive 2024 Republican nominee claimed Biden was “higher than a kite” during an energetic State of the Union address in March.
Fast-forward to 13:30 for some of Campos-Duffy’s comments:
Last year, Campos-Duffy claimed that former first lady Michelle Obama would step in for Biden to face Trump in the election. She also contributed to speculation that both of the Obamas were already calling the shots for the Biden administration.