15 examples of Fox News’ unrivaled federal influence over the last two years – Media Matters for America

Fox News and its biggest stars currently enjoy an unprecedented influence over the federal governments actions because President Donald Trump is obsessed with the networks propagandistic programming and relies on its incendiary right-wing personalities for advice.

Fox has effectively merged with the Trump administration, an event with no analogue in modern American history. The networks sway over the political universe has become so great in recent years that whether you watch it or not, its coverage and commentators have had a tangible effect on your life. In 2020, that impact of the presidents fixation with Fox's coverage culminated inthe deaths of an untold number of Americans during the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump and Fox have a symbiotic relationship dating back nearly a decade. He used its platform and supportive coverage to propel himself to conservative political stardom, the Republican presidential nomination, and the presidency.

Since his election, Trump has filled the top ranks of his administration with friendly faces from the networks airwaves -- but those who remained at Fox rather than joining the administration may be even more powerful. Several network hosts have also become informal presidential advisers, dual roles that would not pass muster at any other news outlet. Sean Hannitys unsecured nightly phone calls with the president led White House aides to describe him as the shadow chief of staff. Laura Ingraham and Jeanine Pirro counseled Trump during West Wing visits, while Tucker Carlson traveled to his Mar-a-Lago resort to do the same. Jesse Watters and Pete Hegseth are close enough to the president to be invited to the White House for private dinners. Trump even reportedly had Lou Dobbs conferenced in to provide feedback during administration meetings.

It is dangerous that the president takes advice from the people he sees on his TV. The members of his Fox News Cabinet are bigoted extremists who lack anything resembling the qualifications you would want in senior advisers to the most powerful man on the planet. They have their jobs because they are willing and effective members of a corrupt propaganda machine -- they know how to wield disinformation and marshal the fear and hatred of the networks hard-right viewers to keep them coming back for more and supporting Republican politicians. And they have the presidents ear because they use their programs to praise him and denounce his foes. Those arent credentials for presidential advisers -- they are ingredients for disaster.

Meanwhile, the presidents most important source of information isnt the U.S. intelligence community -- its the dimwitted pro-Trump shills at the networks morning show, Fox & Friends. The president watches hours of Fox News and its sister network, Fox Business, each day and regularly tweets in response to segments that attract his attention -- at times dramatically shifting the news cycle and government policy. He sent 1,146 of these Fox live tweets from September 2018 through August 2020 -- 7.5% of his total tweets during that period --according to a new Media Matters report.

This Trump-Fox feedback loop impacts the presidents worldview -- and thus, the governments actions -- on a scope far beyond any other news outlet in the recent past. And the networks hold on both have only been strengthened over the course of his administration.

Here are 15 ways Fox drove federal policymaking and political events over the last two years.

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15 examples of Fox News' unrivaled federal influence over the last two years - Media Matters for America