“I sincerely hope this holiday season will drain the poison that has infected our politics, and set us against one another,” an optimistic President Joe Biden said this afternoon in a Christmas address to the nation. However, if the politically nimble Democrat in the White House hoped to break through the echo chamber of our national discourse, Fox News Channel burst that wish

While CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the usual cable suspects carried POTUS’ speech live, the Rupert Murdoch-owned outlet played Scrooge and ignored the whole thing. Focusing on topics like the crisis at the southern border and the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and running a lot of ads for security system and more, FNC were, as the partisan trope says, in a whole other universe today to Biden’s remarks – as they have been many times in the past.

Unmentioned directly, but part of the heart of Biden’s address, Fox News did not respond to request for comment from Deadline on why they ran none of the president’s innocuous holiday remarks live Thursday. If and when they do get back to us, we will update this post accordingly.

Coming near the end of a dramatic week of a massive bipartisan spending bill moving towards Biden’s desk for signature and the visit yesterday of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the nation’s capital, plus a crippling winter storm hitting large swaths of America, the president’s words repeated sought end of year reconciliation. “We are truly blessed to live in this nation,” Biden said from a decorated White House. “And I truly hope we take the time to look out for one another, not at one another, look out for one another,” he added. “So, this Christmas, let’s spread a little kindness.”

“Our politics has gotten so angry, so mean, so partisan, and too often we see each other as enemies, not as neighbors, as Democrats or Republicans, not as fellow Americans,” Biden stated in the relatively short speech. “We have become too divided, but as tough as these times have been, if we look a little closer, we see bright spots all across the country. The strength and determination, the resilience that’s long defined America. We’re surely making progress.”

Coming hours before the January 6^th Committee is expected to drop its Donald Trump damning final report, Biden finds himself galvanized by a string of recent legislative successes and historically favorable midterm election results.

Offering a litany of said bright spots in the economy, the pandemic “no longer” controlling people’s lives (though infection rates are rising in the cold weather), and more, Biden reflected on the cruel loss of his first wife and infant daughter 50 years ago and the “great pain and terrible loneliness” the season can be for many.

In that context, the president returned again to the theme of empathy and kindness underling his political comments.

“Here’s what I learned long ago: no one can ever know what someone else is going through,” Biden asserted. “That’s why sometimes the smallest act of kindness can mean so much. A simple smile. A hug. An unexpected phone call. A quiet cup of coffee. Simple acts of kindness that can lift a spirit, provide comfort, and perhaps, maybe even save a life.”

Celebrating his second Christmas as POTUS, Biden intends to spend the holiday in D.C. with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and other family members.