Most people are worried they might accidentally burn the turkey in the oven, not have their Christmas tree set on fire. The 50-foot tall Christmas tree that stood outside Fox News’ Manhattan headquarters was set alight just after midnight on December 8. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. Meanwhile, the police quickly arrested the suspect. However, the story didn’t end there. The internet saw this as a meme-worthy opportunity and started making jokes about the incident, mostly due to Fox News’ reputation in the United States and globally.
Bored Panda has compiled a list of the most popular Fox News Xmas tree jokes flying around social media. You’ll find them below.
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I asked British comedy expert, author, and all-round creative Ariane Sherine to comment about the situation with the Fox News Christmas tree. According to her, it’s a tricky situation when considering that the internet is having a lot of fun laughing at what happened, even though someone could have easily been hurt. “If it had been our own tree, we most likely wouldn’t find it funny—at least, not for a long time,” she told Bored Panda. “But when we don’t like someone or something, we cease to have empathy for them and can therefore laugh. It’s human nature, but probably not the best part of it!”
Just to make it very clear, we don’t condone burning down *any* Christmas trees, no matter whom they belong to. Someone could have easily gotten hurt! And think of all the effort that went into putting up the tree in the first place. We do, however, think that bizarre situations like this one can inspire the internet to come up with some pretty funny roasts and hot takes. And everyone needs a laugh or two in these hard times, even if the humor might be too dark for some.
#BREAKING: The Fox News Christmas Tree is on fire in NYC pic.twitter.com/xfWdFgdQIS
— Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) December 8, 2021
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The Christmas tree was set on fire in the square next to the News Corp. Building which houses Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post in New York City. Local firefighters were able to quickly put out the blaze and nobody ended up getting hurt.
However, the property damage was pretty extensive. The Xmas tree had 10,000 glass ornaments, 100,000 lights, and cost a whopping 500,000 dollars. It took workers 21 hours to assemble, too. However, Fox News plans to rebuild the tree after the incident.
I was interested to find out more about dark humor and our sense of guilt. According to comedy writer Ariane from London, we shouldn’t necessarily feel guilty for laughing at the Fox News Christmas tree being set alight. “If you find something funny, that’s largely out of your control. But if you do want to stop laughing at a situation like this, just imagine the incident had happened to you or one of your loved ones,” the humor expert told Bored Panda.
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Ariane, being the traditional, online, and social media expert that she is, gave Bored Panda some insights into Fox News’ reputation. “Fox News is often called Faux News for their lax approach to the truth!” she said that they’re well-known far and wide for ‘gently’ bending the truth.
“If they want to be more highly regarded, they would have to change their whole ethos and become more responsible, ethical and stick to the facts. But I can’t see that happening anytime soon!”
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Police officers arrested a suspect, 49-year-old Craig Tamanaha, by yesterday morning. Tamanaha allegedly scaled the tree and set it aflame at 15 minutes past midnight on Wednesday.
According to The New York Times, the police believe that the suspect is homeless. They’re currently investigating whether mental illness or drug use may have played a part in his actions. Tamanaha had been arrested in March 2021 for drug use, the police state.
The suspect was charged with seven counts, among which were arson, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief. Officers are still looking into the actual cause of the fire. Tamanaha seems to have acted alone, but it’s still not clear what his motives were.
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Tamanaha’s father Richard, from Hawaii, told the New York Post that his son may have set the tree alight to “get onto the news” in order to get attention.
The ‘All-American’ Xmas tree in Manhattan isn’t the only one to have been targeted by arsonists. On Monday, someone set fire to a 52-foot Christmas tree in Oakland in California. Meanwhile, Chicago authorities are investigating someone setting fire to the Washington Square tree. This is the third year in a row that this has happened.
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Source: boredpanda.com