Four years ago, the long-time leader of Fox News suddenly looked insecure. The 2020 elections have become a major threat. With viewers abandoning the network and numerous lawsuits threatening its assets, Donald Trump is returning to the White House today. And he brought along a group of former Fox talent. It was a symbolic expression of the surprise return of the Murdoch-owned channel.
Leading the list are Pete Hegseth, a Fox regular nominated for secretary of defense, and Sean Duffy, a former Fox Business host (and U.S. representative) nominated to head the Department of Transportation. They are joined by former Fox contributors Tom Homan (border tsar), Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence) and Janette Nesheiwat (Surgeon General); Former host Mike Huckabee (Ambassador to Israel); Guest Pam Bondi (Attorney General); and frequent guests Michael Waltz (National Security Advisor) and Marty Makary (Food and Drug Administration Commissioner) Larry Kudlow. passed This time I went to work in management to stay at Fox Business.
In some ways, this staffing strategy looks very similar to the first Trump administration. During his tenure as President at that time The network has close ties to the White House. Fox host Sean Hannity is sometimes referred to as Trump’s.shadow chief officer” and Hannity’s colleague Tucker Carlson has emerged as a leading representative of Trump’s ideology in the media.
but mostly The working relationship failed in November 2020. Fox was the first network to predict Joe Biden would win Arizona, which angered both the Trump camp and conservative viewers. Meanwhile, Republicans are mired in false accusations of election fraud. Fox found himself in an uncomfortable position during that time. The network sometimes hosts prominent figures in the Trump world who have made repeated false claims. But personally Instead, the host mocked them. Meanwhile, hardline viewers became angry at Fox’s refusal to join the Big Lie and began defecting to more upstart far-right groups like Newsmax and One America News Network; Trump slams his former Fox ally Inside the network vibratesAnd leaders discuss next steps Rupert Murdoch never loved Trump, and some of his children wonder if moving to the center would be better.
What’s worse is that it comes. Fox may not embrace claims of voting fraud as fully as other outlets. But it released a guest statement that the machines produced by Dominion which is a company that manufactures ballot counting equipment Has manipulated the presidential election. Dominion has been sued for defamation. And legal experts told CNN that the prospect of a large payout represents “Existing threats” to Fox Corporation, Fox eventually settled the case before trial in April 2023, paying $787 million, although this was not before damaging internal communications. becomes part of the legal proceedings A week later Carlson, the network’s most famous figure, was fired.
So Fox’s return to power today is somewhat surprising. Maybe it shouldn’t be. The network has been a cable news ratings leader for more than two decades. and overcoming the loss of several prominent organizers before Carlson; As I wrote when he left News anchors often need Fox more than Fox needs them.
Even though Trump has sometimes Trying to get a loan For all of Fox’s success, that’s what really seems to be happening. It is that Trump and Fox have rediscovered the symbiotic relationship that has made them resilient. A network spokesperson pointed out to me that Fox had covered inflation. border security and President Biden’s apparent decline more broadly. By reaching those topics faster or in more depth than CNN and MSNBC did, these three issues were no exception. Among the most important In the last presidential election What looks like an unwelcome headline for Trump? Including the criminal charges against him, MSNBC’s ratings are high, but Fox remains at the top.
After years of largely avoiding Fox, Democrats are starting to appear on the channel in an attempt to get their message across. Kamala Harris gave one of her rare national media interviews to Fox’s Bret Baier. Her vice presidential nominee, Tim Walz, continued. fox news sunday Two weeks in a row in October And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, an early Fox guest, introduced himself at the Democratic National Convention in August by joking, “This is a sentence I never thought I’d hear myself say. My name is Pete Buttigieg, and as you may remember, I’m from Fox News.”
The election results have many on the left feeling rejected and turning off the news. MSNBC figures tank In the week after the election And the network’s morning show team, Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, faced backlash for their reunion with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. MSNBC’s parent company also separated from NBC.
The impact of non-traditional news sources, including X and podcasts, on the election has led to a new round of speculation about the demise of traditional media. But Fox’s resurgence points to a different conclusion: Maybe the answer isn’t that people really want different kinds of news. They just want conservative news. The near-consistent shift of voters to the right in 2024 shows that Fox is well positioned to reflect and amplify voters’ moods.
Meanwhile Trump remains uneasy about Fox’s decision, with the possibility that his proactive judgment could help shape Fox’s coverage in his favor. shortly before the election He called on networks to stop airing commercials criticizing him. groan When Baier interviewed Harris and attacked Fox this summer, it came after former House Speaker Paul Ryan sat on the company’s board. criticize him “No one can trust Fox News, and I am one of them.” He posted semi-grammatically.– Trump’s selection of many Fox alumni for his administration This partly reflects his intuition that politics is really a form of entertainment. And one of the key qualities he looks for in any assistant is perspective on the role. But the appointments and nominations over the past two weeks show that The same is true for viewers who left Fox after the 2020 election but have returned since then. Trump may not love everything Fox does, but he can’t bring himself to put it out well.
