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Fox News is a pillar of power in the Donald Trump system. Now the transmitter is apparently remote. There is more behind the scenes.
It was his favorite season, of all things, the one that shook everything. Donald Trump was actually in a good mood. Election night had gathered hundreds of worshipers at the White House, there were mini burgers and fries. The president had just won the all-important state of Florida and was, of course, following the election news on Fox News, the New York Times reported.
Then it happened.
Fox News was the first outlet, and for a long time alone, to announce a painful defeat for Trump: the loss of Arizona, a Republican stronghold, possibly the dead end on Trump’s path to the second presidency.
Dramatic pause in public
The good mood at the election party was gone, the president and his advisers were furious. Trump’s people lobbied first behind the scenes and then in public to reverse Arizona’s decision. Then the station’s chief election analyst defended himself live on television, and had to do so over and over again in the days that followed.
It was a dramatic break in a close and lasting partnership. Fox News made Trump a great politician for the first time. And then Trump made Fox News more successful. They were fertilized, the balls were passed. Now America’s largest news station appears to be abandoning Trump’s sinking ship. But is it really that simple?
There is much evidence for this opinion in the days after the elections. Several moderators have called the Trump camp accusations alleged electoral fraud for what they are: accusations without evidence.
Only half the story
The scenes make you sit up and take note, but they only show half the story. Because they only affect one part of Fox News, the news business that, generally speaking, runs from 9 am to 8 pm every day.
But there is also the opinion machine that works early in the morning from 6 am and in the afternoon. That’s the most powerful part of Fox News because it reaches more viewers and has more influence.
The news channel now only does conservative reporting. And the opinion machine announces Donald Trump in prime time. On Tages-Fox, for example, host Bret Baier emphasizes over and over again that it is all very well to claim voter fraud, but so far “no evidence of widespread fraud has been seen.” To one of the Trump team members, he says, “When Trump won in 2016, the electoral system was fine for all of you.”
“Now it’s up to us to defend him”
In Abend-Fox, meanwhile, hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham are the protagonists and achieve the highest ratings for the station with their personal shows.
To Hannity he can say without contradiction: “We will never be able to announce the true outcome of these elections. That is a fact.” Ingraham openly praises Trump’s loyalty: “He stood up for us. Now it’s up to us to stand up for him. Republicans should stand up for him.”
Ingraham was even invited to Trump’s little election party at the White House on election night. That’s how close the relationship is.
What has changed? Fox says Trump
The tension between the news business and opinion within Fox is mounting. Trump, of course, records it, and where other politicians are silent, he openly complains. For example, when he was switched to the talk show “Fox & Friends” by phone on election morning.
“I’m often asked,” Trump said, “what is the biggest difference between this campaign and the one four years ago? And I say: Fox.” The reason was that the station had also shown Barack Obama’s campaign appearances for opponent Joe Biden. Actually, it is a matter of course for a news outlet.
But the relationship has noticeably cooled on several levels. At Fox News, for decades it was all under the command of Roger Ailes, a notorious conservative troublemaker and friend of Trump. Ailes fell on the broad-ranging sexual harassment allegations from the presenters and passed away shortly thereafter, in May 2017. There is no such trusting relationship with his successor, Suzanne Scott.
Are they becoming competitors?
Nor with those who set the tone at the top of Fox’s media empire: Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan. His empire also includes the Trump-friendly “New York Post” tabloid, which published an alleged corruption scandal involving Biden and his son Hunter shortly before the election, even without evidence.
Even the New York Post published several critical reports these days about Trump’s allegations of alleged election fraud. In the media landscape, this is understood as a distancing from the likely electoral loser Trump.
But Fox is much more powerful than the newspaper. If Trump does leave the White House, it is always speculated that he will find his own television station, and perhaps steal from loyal moderators. Trump would then have his own station without a shred of criticism. And former nice partners Trump and Fox would be direct competitors.
