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Fox News is a pillar of power in Donald Trump’s system. The transmitter is now apparently some distance away. There’s more behind the scenes.
It was his favorite station, of all things, that shook everything. Donald Trump was actually in a good mood. On election night he had gathered hundreds of faithful to the White House, there were mini burgers and fries. The president had just won the all-important state of Florida and, of course, was following the election news on Fox News, the New York Times reported.
Then it happened.
Fox News was the first – and only for a long time – medium to announce a painful defeat for Trump: the loss of Arizona, a Republican stronghold, perhaps the dead end on Trump’s path to the second presidency.
Dramatic break 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. The station’s chief electoral analyst then defended himself on live television – and had to do so again and again in the following days.
It was a dramatic break in a close and longstanding partnership. Fox News made Trump great as a politician. And Trump then made Fox News more successful. They fertilized each other, passed the balls. Now America’s largest news station appears to be leaving the sinking Trump ship. But is it really that simple?
There is much evidence of this opinion in the days following the election. Several moderators have called the Trump camp allegations of alleged election fraud for what they are: allegations without evidence.
Only half of the story
The scenes make you sit down and take note, but they only show half the story. Because they only affect a portion of Fox News, the news industry, which runs from 9:00 to 20:00 every day.
But there is also the opinion machine that works early in the morning from 6am and in the evening. This is the most powerful part of Fox News because it reaches more viewers and has more influence.
The news channel is now mostly making only cautious reports. And the opinion machine advertises Donald Trump in prime time. On Tages-Fox, for example, presenter Bret Baier repeatedly stresses that it is all good to report election fraud, but so far “there has been no evidence of widespread fraud”. To one of the Trump team, he says, “When Trump won in 2016, the electoral system was good for all of you.”
“Now it’s up to us to defend it”
On Abend-Fox, on the other hand, hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham are the stars and get the highest ratings for the station with their personal shows.
To Hannity he can say without contradictions: “We will never be able to announce the true result of these elections. This is a fact”. Ingraham openly praises Trump’s loyalty: “He defended us. Now it’s up to us to defend him. The Republicans should defend him.”
Ingraham was also a guest of Trump’s small election party in the White House on election night. That’s how close the relationship is.
What has changed? Fox says Trump
The tension between news and opinion business within Fox is increasing. Trump, of course, records it and, where other politicians are silent, he complains openly. For example, when he was switched to the “Fox & Friends” opinion program over the phone on election morning.
“I am often asked,” said Trump, “what is the biggest difference between this election campaign and the one four years ago? And I say: Fox.” The reason was that the broadcaster had also shown Barack Obama’s election appearances for opponent Joe Biden. Actually a matter of course for a news medium.
But the relationship has cooled significantly on various levels. For decades, everything at Fox News was under the command of Roger Ailes, a notorious conservative rioter and friend of Trump. Ailes fell on wide-ranging allegations of sexual harassment by presenters and passed away shortly thereafter in May 2017. There is no such relationship of trust 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 son Lachlan. His empire also includes Trump’s friend tabloid “New York Post,” which published an alleged corruption scandal about Biden and his son Hunter shortly before the election, even without evidence.
The New York Post has also published several critical reports in recent days on Trump’s allegations of alleged election fraud. In the media scene, this is understood as a move away from the likely loser of the Trump election.
But Fox is much more powerful than the newspaper. Should Trump indeed leave the White House, there is always speculation that he will found his own TV station and possibly rob loyal moderators. Trump would then have his station without a hint of criticism. And former congenial partners Trump and Fox would be direct competitors.
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