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Fox News upset Shakespeare in the Park isn’t a safe space for Trump supporters

Who will look out for these special snowflakes?

“A disgusting New York City play depicting the president brutally assassinated,” begins a Fox News segment apparently seeking to stoke the outrage out its conservative audience. Even Donald Trump’s son appears upset.

The play? The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, which William Shakespeare is believed to have written around 1599.

Julius Caesar, which many people read in high school, focuses on the agony of Brutus, a close friend of Caesar’s who ultimately conspires in Caesar’s murder. This particular version appears to be a somewhat anachronistic interpretation of the play, where the characters are dressed in modern clothes.

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According to Fox’s write-up of its own segment, the actor playing Caesar “looks very similar to the tall, blond businessman elected president in 2016.” Also, the actress playing his wife has a “Slavic accent.”

It’s an edgy interpretation of Shakespeare’s 400 year-old play, but hardly an extraordinary one. Modern updates of Shakespearean dramas, where centuries-old characters are placed in a contemporary setting, are fairly common — as anyone who enjoyed popular film in the 1990s can probably tell you.

Also, the play doesn’t exactly portray Caesar’s assassins as untainted heroes — or Caesar’s death as a positive event.

In any event, Fox typically takes a far different view on calls to censor political speech and art — at least when that speech has a conservative slant.

Some recent Fox News headlines include “‘Why Not Ban Pens & Keyboards?’: Tucker Battles Student Over Whiteboard Ban” and “Tucker Takes on Student Who Called for NYU to Shut Down College Republicans,” as well as a (legally dubious) piece touting Fox personality Eric Bolling’s claim that “free speech is protected no matter how inciting it may be.”

UPDATE (7:11 P.M.): Delta has pulled its sponsorship of Shakespeare In The Park.