Fox News' primetime shows are framing impeachment as a win for Trump and a 'disaster' for Democrats
- Fox News' primetime coverage of the public impeachment hearings has been very critical of the proceedings.
- The coverage has involved a general assault on Democrats, criticism of other media outlets' coverage, an aggressive defense of the president's actions, and personal attacks on the witnesses.
- Last week, Fox displayed statements from the White House undermining Taylor and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, while they spoke during the hearings.
- But a few of Fox's news hosts have presented the network's massive audience with critical coverage.
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Fox News primetime host Laura Ingraham declared on last Wednesday's program that the public impeachment hearings were "a complete and utter disaster" for Democrats.
"The only thing Donald Trump is guilty of is not giving away his foreign policy powers to unelected bureaucrats," Ingraham said last Wednesday.
The night before the hearings began, Ingraham primed her audience with a conversation about "the impeachment inquiry fraud" with President Donald Trump's son, Eric.
Primetime host Tucker Carlson characterized the hearings as a simple airing of grievances by a host of unhappy bureaucrats, calling last Friday's testimony "C-Span meets the shrink's office" and a "grotesque joke."
"How many other neurotics currently hold ambassador ranking?" Carlson asked, referring to Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine who was abruptly fired by President Donald Trump earlier this year.
While House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff spoke on Wednesday, Fox ran a graphic of White House talking points, including "Trump has repeatedly implied that Schiff has committed treason." During top US diplomat Bill Taylor's last Wednesday testimony, Fox ran one reading "WH called Taylor's testimony triple hearsay."
On Monday, "Fox and Friends" had on former President Richard Nixon's son-in-law, Ed Cox, who's also working for Trump's campaign, to defend both Trump and Nixon.
"He's a fighter - he told me that," Cox said about Trump. "He said President Nixon should have fought all the way through it. But it was a different time back then. Both - President Nixon had both houses against him."
Primetime host Sean Hannity called the first day of public impeachment hearings a "great day for the United States, for the President and the country and a lousy day for the corrupt, do-nothing-for-three-years, radical extreme socialist Democrats and their top allies known as the media mob."
But Fox's coverage included a few prominent examples of critical coverage. Anchor Chris Wallace, who is part of the straight news programming that often contrasts with Fox's prime-time opinion shows, reported last week that the hearings were "very damaging" for Trump.
"If you are not moved by the testimony of Marie Yovanovitch today, you don't have a pulse," Wallace said of testimony from the former US ambassador to Ukraine on Friday.
Another of Fox's straight news hosts, Bret Baier, called it "a turning point" when Trump attacked Yovanovitch while she testified - a move that Democrats quickly characterized as witness intimidation.
More viewers tuned in to Fox than any other network during the first two days of impeachment hearings last week. While Fox drew an average of 2.8 million viewers throughout the day on Friday, MSNBC drew 2.7 million and CNN attracted 1.8 million.
Notably, MSNBC had several opinion hosts, including former Bush administration White House press secretary Nicolle Wallace and left-leaning anchor Chris Matthews lead the network's coverage during the impeachment hearings last week.
The two were joined by special guest George Conway, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway's husband who's an outspoken supporter of impeaching Trump. Fox was quick to attack the progressive-leaning network for their programming.
- Read more:
- White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed without evidence that Obama staffers left notes for Trump aides saying 'You will fail'
- Fox News anchor Chris Wallace called the impeachment testimony 'very damaging' to Trump. The network earlier ran a graphic referring to Bill Taylor as a 'never Trumper.'
- Marie Yovanovitch says she felt 'threatened' by Trump when he attacked her on a phone call with the Ukrainian president