The year was pretty ridonkulous across the board, but Fox News had itself a doozy of a 2018, with a string of controversies, slip-ups, feuds, and strange happenings. 

The news network has long since tied its fortunes to President Trump. They seem to sink or swim along with the president — with the occasional aside from figures like Shep Smith, the lone voices of reason among a collection of pro-Trump pundits.

From beefs with teen school shooting survivors to fear-mongering about, well, all sorts of things, it was another weird, wacky, controversial year for The House That Roger Ailes Built. Here are 12 moments that stuck out above the rest.

1. The Seth Rich lawsuit

In 2018, most of the controversy over Fox News’ role in propagating a conspiracy theory surrounding the murder of DNC worker Seth Rich had largely subsided. The main story, suggesting Rich was the leaker of the trove of DNC emails during the 2016 campaign, was retracted in May 2017, a week after it was published. Even Sean Hannity, who was the most vocal supporter of the conspiracies, had moved on to other things. 

But in March 2018, Rich’s family filed a lawsuit against the network, claiming the network, Malia Zimmerman, and commenter Ed Butowsky, “aided and abetted the intentional infliction of emotional distress” with their coverage of the conspiracy. The case was eventually dismissed by a judge in August.

Still, it continued to make headlines in 2018, a year after it originally bubbled up, keeping the conspiracy front of mind for critics who have claimed the network’s pundits were treading dangerously close to such territory for some time. 

2. Commentator hits his “propaganda” limit

Frequent Fox News contributor Ralph Peters hit his limit in March 2018, when, in an email, he said he was “ashamed” of his association with the network, adding that it had “degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration.”

Of course, this wouldn’t be a Fox News story without a twist. Peters previously had caused a lot of consternation due to anti-Barack Obama comments he made on the network, including calling Obama “a pussy” and saying Obama was “date raped” by Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

So much for shame.

3. A polling self-own

In this politically divisive time, it’s not unusual to hear media outlets being criticized for not being trustworthy. But it’s a bit unusual to see an outlet openly share a poll that paints them as the least trustworthy. Yet here we are! 

During a segment between host Howard Kurtz and guest Frank Lutz about the president and the media, poll results were shared showing trust in media versus trust in the president. Those results wound up being an inadvertent slam on Fox News itself, as the network had the lowest percentage of trust as compared to the president than two of its biggest competitors. (You can read the full results here.)

Still, it’s doubtful this had much impact on the network. After all, it’s still a ratings juggernaut compared to CNN and MSNBC, which probably means more to the executives than any single poll result. 

4. Laura Ingraham’s very bad year

While Sean Hannity may be the most recognizable name on Fox News, it was Laura Ingraham who made a lot of headlines for all the wrong reasons. Whether it was telling LeBron James to “shut up and dribble” or comparing child detention centers along the United States-Mexico border to “summer camps,” Ingraham managed some highly visible missteps. But perhaps the one that will linger longest is her feud with David Hogg, one of the teenage survivors of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in February of 2018. 

As Hogg emerged as one of the leading voices of the Parkland kids’ efforts on gun control, Ingraham singled him out, mocking his rejection from multiple colleges. This quickly backfired, prompting Hogg to lead a rather successful campaign targeting Ingraham’s leading advertisers. 

Ingraham was even mocked by one guest on her show over the advertising boycott. The host managed to hold onto her program despite the boycott and survived to continue stepping in it again and again, most recently comparing protesters demanding the take-down of Confederate statues to ISIS, because time is a flat circle.

5. Dictator Trump

Trump is a dictator, according to Fox News.

Okay, not really. Fox News is, after all, an incredibly pro-Trump outlet. But with Trump signaling a rise in authoritarianism across the globe, the words “Trump” and “dictator” are mentioned in the same breath by critics more than most previous presidents, even when it’s a mistake — like this incident from June ahead of Trump’s summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

The anchor who committed the slip-up, Fox & Friends host Abby Huntsman, later apologized for the on-air whoops. But the moment lives on.

6. Covering Mueller (or not)

Being a largely pro-Trump outlet means defending Trump against those who would do him political harm, like Robert Mueller, whose investigation into the potential collaboration between Russia and the Trump campaign has been a main storyline for the Trump presidency thus far.  

So what happened on that fateful day in August 2018, when Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight counts of tax and bank fraud, and Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to campaign finance crimes while also admitting Trump ordered hush money payments to women who claimed to have had affairs with him? 

Well, if you were watching Fox News, nothing much. To be fair, it seemed all of conservative media reacted the same way, but Fox is, by far, the largest of those outlets making their aversion to the actual news all the more noticeable.  

7. Tucker Carlson steps in it. Again.

It’s been nearly 15 years since Tucker Carlson was obliterated by Jon Stewart on Carlson’s old CNN show, “Crossfire,” and yet not much has changed: Carlson still insists on opening his mouth and saying bad things.

Having already uttered disturbing words in June about how “the ruling class” of America (aka “The Left”) was more concerned about migrants than American families, a rant filled with inaccuracies and hypocrisy, he one-upped his rhetoric with a September rant against … diversity.

Apparently, being different is bad for cohesion, according to Carlson. It’s a bizarre line of argument, suggesting that people of different backgrounds have no way of meeting in the middle. It’s such a cynical hot take that you’d be forgiven for mistaking it as satire if you ignored the ongoing build of bad takes from Carlson over the years. 

Even Carlson is beginning to show signs of souring on Trump, levying some criticism at the president in a recent interview. Chances are that will do little to slow the flow of bad thoughts that Carlson’s internal filter just can’t catch.

8. Eric Trump’s anti-semitic comment

In September, while appearing on Fox News, presidential son Eric Trump took a shot at legendary journalist Bob Woodward and his Trump-related book by saying it was just an effort “to make three extra shekels.” No one in the Fox News studio batted an eyelash. 

Why was this such a big deal? As Mashable’s Morgan Sung wrote at the time about Trump’s use of “shekel”:

The word for Israeli currency is also a favorite of 4chan and other racist boards. The Daily Stormer, a white supremacist neo-Nazi Holocaust denial site, frequently uses “shekel” to describe anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. 

Unless you’re either literally in Israel or spending a lot of time in these alt-right spaces, it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll even use “shekel” in your daily vocabulary. 

If it was just a blind spot for everyone involved, then that is one hell of a shared blind spot. The comments are even worse given the that a month later, a gunman killed 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue while shouting anti-semitic slurs. 

9. Fox News versus Jamie Lee Curtis

You’d think by now no one would mess with the actress who has gone head-to-head with one of horror’s biggest villains, but then you don’t know Fox News. In early October, the site published the story “Jamie Lee Curtis wields firearms in new ‘Halloween’ movie despite advocating for gun control.”

The story tries to paint Curtis as a hypocrite over the hot-button topic of gun control without ever positing that one can be a legal, safe user of firearms while also supporting gun control efforts like banning assault rifles. 

What’s more, according to Curtis, Fox never reached out to her to chat about her real-life views on gun control versus those of the fictional characters she portrays in movies. If they had, they would have found out that Curtis supports “people owning firearms if they have been trained, licensed, a background check has been conducted, a pause button has been pushed to give time for that process to take place.”

10. Fear-mongering on the border

Heading into the midterm elections, Fox News was the top perpetrator in fear-mongering about the reported migrant caravan winding its way through Mexico to the U.S. border, a pattern of coverage by FOX that has continued as the situation along the border devolved into chaos over Thanksgiving weekend. 

But perhaps nothing the network has done in covering the story is as egregious as what Griff Jenkins did during a report from the border in October, crouching in the bushes and ambushing migrants as they attempted to cross the border.

Fox heralded Jenkins as something of a hero while ignoring the context of why those migrants were making the trek (or twisting that context) to the United States. And they were seemingly okay with Jenkins performing work closer to that of a border agent — aggressively confronting migrants at the border — as opposed to, say, a reporter.

11. Hannity further blurs the line

Fox News has fought criticism by stressing that the channel is a mix of real journalists and opinion-based figures. Yet that argument is completely disingenuous when its most popular (and most promoted) stars are the likes of Ingraham, Carlson, and, yes, Sean Hannity, who has fully embraced Trump to the point of bedtime phone chats with the man. 

It looks even worse when Hannity, by far the network’s biggest star, strolls up on stage alongside a politically divisive president and then slams the present media, which included Fox News reporters, as “fake news.” 

The appearance, which Hannity said was unplanned, sparked outrage, and some of Hannity’s Fox news coworkers expressed deep anger about his appearance, claiming that “a new line was crossed.” Even the network chastised Hannity and another host, Jeanine Pirro, for their appearance onstage.

Hannity, of course, apologized and said that when he blasted the reporters as being “fake news,” he didn’t mean to include the Fox News reporters. Just every other reporter there who reports things that neither he or Trump like.

12. An Ocasio-Cortez infatuation

Congratulations, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez! Not since Obama wore a tan suit has there been this much pearl-clutching by conservative media over the fashion choices of a liberal. But Fox News seems happy to have a new left-wing villain coming to Washington.

That Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, is a Democratic Socialist only set off more alarm bells within Fox News HQ. Whether it’s painting her as a liberal media darling, eyeing her Capitol Hill ambitions with suspicion, or taking every opportunity to put the word “socialist” in a headline, the network is a bit, well, focused.

That’s led to an obsession over Ocasio-Cortez’s wardrobe, from jackets to, recently, her shoes in a rather eye-rolling Fox News segment.

Ocasio-Cortez has taken it all in stride, trolling Fox News right back. She hasn’t even been sworn in yet, and all signs point to things picking up in 2019, meaning we’ll know right where to start when putting together the list of Fox News goofs for next year.

Image: google maps / lime

Lime made it to Australia last month and Mexico City the month before. On Thursday, the motorized scooters dropped into Google Maps, inching us ever closer to e-scooter world domination.

On the Google Maps mobile app, a scooter option showing nearby Lime scooters will come up when mapping out directions on transit. The app will show if a scooter is available, how many others are nearby, how long it’ll take to walk to the scooter, and an estimate of how much your ride will cost.

In the U.S., Lime rides cost $1 to unlock and 15 cents per minute.

Clicking on the Lime option doesn’t mean you can rent a scooter straight through the navigation app. Instead, that opens up the standalone Lime app — and if you don’t have it, you’ll need to download it and sign up to use the e-scooters.

There’s also the safety issue of riders not having a helmet on them to ride the scooters if an impromptu trip comes up. Though, starting in January, adults in California can decide if they want to protect themselves on the motorized vehicles. 

Lime scooters on Google Maps is first available in Auckland, New Zealand; Austin; Baltimore; Brisbane, Australia; Dallas; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; San Diego; Oakland; San Antonio, Texas; San Jose, California; Scottsdale, Arizona, and Seattle. Google says more cities will offer the feature soon. More than 100 cities offer Lime vehicles like scooters and bicycles.

Like we said: world domination.

  

Heads up: The MashStash team writes about stuff you’ll probably want to buy. If you do purchase something through MashStash, Mashable might earn some cash through an affiliate commission.

Whether you come from a family of outdoor enthusiasts and are looking for last-minute holiday gift ideas, or you’re seeking a little something “from Santa” to add to your own pile of loot, there’s something for everyone on your list at Columbia Sportswear.

Now through Dec. 20, get up to 50 percent off select Columbia products such as jackets, parkas, footwear, fleeces, and other winter wardrobe staples. Greater Rewards Members will also get free shipping. There’s no code required, so head on over to Columbia today to begin perusing this incredible sale.

Below are just a few ideas to spark your gift-giving imagination.

Women’s Dualistic Jacket

Lightweight and heavy duty don’t always go together, but this versatile jacket proves the two aren’t mutually exclusive. This insulated jacket is perfect for everything from a quick stroll down the block to a winter hike through backcountry woods. The Light Bisque color is a lovely option that will provide nice balance among your entirely black and grey winter wardrobe.

Men’s Tough Hiker Hooded Fleece

This zip-up fleece hoodie is one of those gifts the recipient won’t want to take off from Christmas Day through the end of March. It’s got everything you could ask for from a fleece: zippered hand pockets, a hood, and an attractive look. The fleece comes in four color options: Black, Graphite/Black, Peatmoss/Mosstone, and Dark Mountain.

Women’s Twentythird Ave Chelsea Boot

Available in two color combinations — Black and Steam, and Tobacco and Elk — this boot boasts a classic look that’s sure to become one of your go-to wardrobe items this season. These boots are waterproof, cushioned, and made with a non-marking sole for both indoor and outdoor wear. The slip-on style makes them as convenient as they are cute.

Kids’ Mountainside Full Zip Jacket

For the little adventurer in your life, this jacket provides ultimate protection against the elements. With synthetic insulation, a hood, and zippered pockets, this jacket can brave not only the walk to the school bus stop, but just about any outdoor adventure on your family’s winter itinerary.

Order soon — Dec. 14 is the last day to order to guarantee delivery before Christmas. 

Puma is upgrading your workout wardrobe with the RS-Computer shoe. These vintage beauties originally came out in 1986, and were able to track your speed and other factors with a built-in computer chip. Puma says the 2018 model will look the same while sporting some new tech inside.

At $80, you can’t expect much from the Amazon Fire HD 8.

While the company is calling it a brand-new device, the Fire HD 8 remains largely unchanged. It retains the same design as its predecessor and there are slight hardware improvements. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Amazon isn’t competing with Apple’s iPad Pro or a Pixel Slate. This is a basic tablet running a customized version of Android (coined Fire OS). You get Alexa on board, and chances are it’ll be used for consuming content like shows from Prime Video or Netflix. Plus, it’s great for listening to music, web browsing, and even video chatting.

Special offers are a lot less discrete

Image: zlata ivleva/mashable 

The idea of selling a Fire tablet for less (supplemented by ads) is a neat idea, especially since it doesn’t interrupt the user experience.

In the end it can be a double-edged sword, since you do save some money up front, but said ads may inspire you to make more purchases down the line. It can be even worse if your shiny new tablet leads you down the path of an addictive game with in-app purchases. 

One of the first things that struck me about these special offers is that they’re more in-your-face and encourage impulse purchases even more than in the past. They’re littered with bold, vibrant graphics and more explicit “buy now” or “download now” buttons.

While my unit had special offers, I could see myself paying the $15 fee to remove them. Especially if I intended to use the Fire HD 8 as an Echo Show-like device.

A basic design

Image: zlata ivleva/mashable

The Fire HD 8 has a basic plastic design that screams cheap. Unlike other tablets that offer more grip, the HD 8 has a smooth and matte plastic back. You can get it in either black, blue, yellow, or red. I’ve been testing out the blue version, which is a dark navy. But if you’re looking for a pop of color, you should opt for the neon yellow.

Amazon also packed a rear-facing 2-megapixel camera in the left-hand corner. It seems like a strange addition for such an affordable tablet, but I’ll touch on that a bit later. 

If you want an almost bezel-less tablet, you should probably stop reading now. The bezels are the first thing you’ll notice when you pick it up. They outline the 8-inch 1,280 x 800 HD display, which feels like an older-generation iPad minus the home button. The bezels are mostly there as a cost saver and to make it easier to hold the device. They also house the 2-megapixel front-facing camera. 

Image: zlata ivleva/mashable

The charging port, volume rocker, power button, and headphone jack are found on the top of the device. There are two sets of speakers on the left, and a microSD card slot on the right. The volume rocker on the top is a plus for watching a video while in landscape orientation.

Overall, it’s a comfortable tablet to hold. It doesn’t scream high-end, but at just 363 grams and 9.7 millimeters thick, it’s portable enough. I also found that watching movies and reading some news from the web browser was quite comfortable. Even better, it didn’t add too much weight to my backpack for commuting. 

Aging specs

While the cameras got an upgrade and new features were added this time around, Amazon didn’t opt to update the processor. A 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek still powers the Fire HD 8 2018 with 1.5GB of RAM. Simply put, it can handle the basics, but pushing it even a bit can lead to slowdown. It’s lackluster at best when it comes to gaming. (Forget about playing something like Fortnite or PUBG.) On Geekbench it scored a 530 on single core and 1,502 on multicore, which isn’t great.

Image: zlata ivleva/mashable 

Streaming Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime video should be just fine. The same goes for web browsing and light utility tasks. The processor can’t handle multiple taxing apps running at the same time, though. I had several apps crash while testing, so it’s best to play it safe.

The 8-inch HD display is still pretty basic. I would have liked to see some improvements with brightness and NIT levels, as well as the reflectiveness. For that reason, it can be hard to use outside when the sun is shining, but for watching videos indoors or in bed, you’re fine. 

Image: zlata ivleva/mashable 

The speakers performed pretty well. Just be sure not to cover them up. It doesn’t get nearly as loud as an iPad Pro, but it presents a balanced mix that will be fine for a lot of people. 

Go full throttle with hands-free Alexa

One welcome upgrade is hands-free Alexa, which means the Fire HD 8 is basically an Echo Show when it’s in Show Mode. So yes, at $80 you can get a cheaper Echo Show, albeit with some compromise. You’ll get a considerable amount of savings, given the $229 price tag for the second-generation Echo Show. It’s the most significant change and works pretty well.

However, leaving Alexa on can deplete your battery quickly. Moreover, while you can turn the feature on or off, Amazon says to expect a maximum of 8 hours on the 2018 version with or without Alexa. That’s down from 12 hours on the 2017 model. Heavy use will bring it a little under, but I found with Alexa on and with typical use you hit 8 hours easily. 

With the feature enabled, you can talk to Alexa from the other side of the room, and the far-field microphones do a decent job. These speakers aren’t the loudest, but if you’re not an audiophile, this will remain a minor nitpick. Amazon also sells a Show Mode Dock for $39.99 that basically turns your device into an Echo Show. Bonus: It also solves the power problem as you can leave it plugged in.

Limited apps

If you’re hoping you can get any app your heart desires, you’ll be profoundly disappointed. Amazon is still at odds with Google, and the Google Play Store is not available on the Fire HD 8 or any Fire tablet. While you can side-load it through an APK, it’s a bit of a complicated task.

Instead, you’ll be stuck with Fire OS-compatible apps in the Amazon App Store. You’ll notice some big ones missing, especially as many developers aren’t as eager to go for this store. It usually takes a few weeks or months after they launch on iOS or Android before it arrives to Fire OS. 

So, fair warning: while you can get Netflix, Hulu, and other big-name apps, indie options will be hard to find.

For media consumption and light tasks only

At the end of the day, you can’t complain much about an $80 tablet. You have a good idea of what you’re getting going in and the Fire HD 8 is a simple device. For media consumption, light tasks or casual gaming, and even using it as a kind of portable Echo Show, you’ll be fine.

Image: zlata ivleva/mashable

However, this isn’t going to be a computer, iPad, Chrome OS, or full Android device replacement. For that, you’re better off looking at the $329 iPad or an older iPad Mini. 

However, if you’re in the Amazon ecosystem with a Prime membership, you’ll get access to plenty of TV shows and movies from the get-go. Add in Kindle Unlimited, and you can do some reading. Just be sure that you’re OK with a limited app selection and performance that might be slower than you’d like.

There’s no easy way to say this: YouTube Rewind 2018 was … pretty cringey. But YouTuber Jacksfilms made the best of it and created a surprisingly good song out of Will Smith’s bizarre grunting. The resulting musical homage to Smith — The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air star, award-winning actor, and most recently, vlogger — is an absolute bop. 

“YouTube’s hot, but he made it hotter,” Jacksfilms raps, with a lighthearted jab at the awkward fact that YouTube Rewind 2018 is the second most disliked video in the site’s history.

But maybe not for long: It’s well on its way to beating Justin Bieber’s “Baby” in dislikes. At the time of writing, a live count of the two videos shows YouTube Rewind 2018 just over 260,000 dislikes behind “Baby.” 

Have fun getting the sound of Smith’s grunts out of your head!

You ever see something mildly infuriating but manage to breeze past it? 

Imagine breezing past it every day, five days a week. And instead of breezing past it, you’re stuck in bumper to bumper traffic during rush hour. This mildly infuriating decor oversight looms overhead, filling you with pure rage as it taunts you with terrible design until you finally snap.

The Holland Tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey has its fair share of issues, but the most egregious of all is the halfhearted holiday decorations. The Port Authority placed a festive wreath over the O — which makes total sense. It also placed a wreath over the U in a somewhat uncomfortable but understandable balance. 

“But for some reason the tree is over the letter N in the word Holland instead of the letter A where it would fit perfectly,” Cory Windelspecht wrote in a Change.org petition to move the tree. “On top of that, it’s just unsightly and ruins the holiday festivities for the people to enjoy on such a great piece of architecture.” 

Windelspecht is channeling his anger over the tree’s placement into action. The petition already has 1,300 signatures, and he’s planning on bringing it to the Port Authority’s public comments section on Thursday. He hopes to finally put an end to the infuriating decorations and ensure that the tree is moved over to A.

“Every day, New Yorkers and New Jerseyans have to pass through these gates to get to the city of New York, and they are forced to stare at this OCD nightmare of this Christmas tree,” he said in a passionate video rallying for the change. “It’s not right, it wasn’t right 10 years ago, it wasn’t right two years ago, it’s certainly not right this year. And this year, we’re taking a stand.”

Here’s a mock-up of the proposed changes he posted on Instagram, where the tree undeniably fits better over the letter A. 

This has been an issue for years; in 2012, Jalopnik posted an article titled “The Holland Tunnel Can’t Even Get Christmas Decorations Right.” 

Others, including Budweiser, are voicing their support for Windelspecht’s efforts. 

“When this tree goes over the letter A, this world is gonna be a better place,” he said in his video. “I’m not joking when I say that, I really believe that.”

The Port Authority did not immediately return request for comment, but released a public poll on Wednesday to gauge public interest in shifting the decorations. 

In a video statement for the Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year Awards, Christine Blasey Ford makes her first public appearance since testifying against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault.

Ford presents the Inspiration of the Year award to lawyer and former gymnast Rachael Denhollander, who was the first woman to publicly speak out against former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar in 2016. 

“Her courage inspired other survivors to end their silence, and we all know the result,” Ford says. 

Hundreds of women, including Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, came forward and shared their stories of abuse. Nassar was later sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. 

Ford continues, “Rachael Denhollander, I am in awe of you, and I will always be inspired by you. In stepping forward, you took a huge risk, and you galvanized future generations to come forward, even when the odds are seemingly stacked against them.” 

Thanks to Denhollander and other survivors and activists, including Ford herself, this year has involved continuing conversations about sexual assault, healing, and accountability. As we look to 2019, it’s important to see how far we’ve come — and how we can move forward. 

The full Sports Illustrated ceremony will premiere on NBCSN on Dec. 13 at 9 p.m. EST.