For those seeking a respite from the flood of gloomy and depressing coverage related to the imposition of President Donald Trump’s tariffs — at least before his retreat on Wednesday, announcing a 90-day “pause” — there’s been an oasis of sunshine.
Try “Fox & Friends.”
Fox News Channel remains the president’s preferred network, and based on its coverage this week — as other outlets have weighed in on the recessionary risks of his actions and the slumping stock market — Fox’s morning crew has exhibited little interest in rocking that boat, even if that means giving relatively short shrift to what is undeniably the biggest story going right now.
Jimmy Kimmel called Fox out for its tariff coverage on his ABC late-night show Tuesday, labeling the “Fox & Friends” gang “bootlickers,” while suggesting that the network continues to toe the Trump line out of fear, worried that its ratings will plummet if it provides a less-rosy appraisal of current conditions.
Notably, Fox did grapple with the risk of alienating part of its core audience amid the Trump denialism that followed the 2000 election, prompting hand-wringing and discussion within the network made public thanks to the Dominion lawsuit, which Fox eventually settled for $787 million.
If Trump “turns on them,” Kimmel quipped, “next thing you know Newsmax is on top.”
Fox has certainly found creative ways to spin the tariff story throughout the week. On Wednesday, “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade stated, “The strategy’s becoming abundantly clear now,” which would come as news to the many financial experts who feel as if the president is essentially improvising, stating objectives that are at best contradictory and conflicting.
“He’s fighting for the little guy right now,” chimed in co-host Lawrence Jones, citing a disconnect between his elite friends and those who are less well off.
Earlier in the week, Fox hosts and pro-Trump guests also backed the president, despite the misgivings expressed by some Republican lawmakers. At one point, Fox’s “Outnumbered” quoted a conservative commentator who said Trump was fighting to restore blue-collar jobs, running the chyron, “Trump’s Manly Tariffs: Pundit Believes It Could Reverse Crisis in Masculinity” across the screen.
Kilmeade also framed the conversation in what can only be called macho terms, saying of Trump’s posture toward other countries, “He is staring them down, Clint Eastwood-style.” That was among the clips that Kimmel ran to illustrate how Fox’s coverage ran counter to that on most mainstream news outlets.
Still, watching Fox News as the tariff crisis has unfolded reveals another familiar strategy from the network’s playbook when it comes to dealing with news that’s less-than-favorable to the president — namely, pivoting to other topics that offer a more comfortable haven for its right-leaning audience.
During the week, that meant quickly turning from tariffs to vandalism against Tesla dealerships — and the perceived slowness of certain Democratic legislators to denounce it; the need for a remedial math class at Harvard, continuing the assault on higher education; and transgender athletes, which included covering the relatively low-profile sports of fencing and pool.
On Wednesday, “Fox & Friends” opened with tariff talk, but soon shifted to an undocumented California soccer coach accused of murdering a teenager and issues surrounding sanctuary cities.
When the conversation did turn to tariffs — a story too big to be ignored — beyond reminding viewers of Trump’s skills as a negotiator, the consistent watchword appeared to be “patience.”
“We gotta give it a little more time,” Rosanna Scotto said, while fellow hosts spoke of experiencing “short-term pain” to achieve long-term results.
Although most voices on Fox invoked Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal” in response to the “pause” on tariffs, a few punctured that argument.
“I want to tell you right now that Donald Trump outsmarted the world. Trust me, I’m an American, I support my president,” said senior business correspondent Charles Gasparino. “But that’s not really what happened here.” Pod Save America co-host Tommy Vietor flagged the moment, noting that Gasparino was “popping their propaganda bubble and saying that Trump blinked.”
Indeed, earlier in the week, Fox Business host Charles Payne had stated during an appearance on the flagship network that Trump has “gotta stay the course.” Former Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli concurred, saying, “It would be a huge sign of weakness to back off at this point,” calling the stock-market response to the tariffs “an overreaction.”
While Trump might have backed off, at least temporarily, in the face of that financial reaction, Fox appears determined to stand by its man. And while there are various words that can be used to describe that, if the underlying rationale has anything to do with the self-serving concerns that Kimmel suggested, “masculinity” isn’t among them.
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