For most of his time in the public eye, President Donald Trump was a joke.Â
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Trump was usually in the headlines for salacious stories about cheating on his wives, for his businesses going bankrupt after splashy starts, and for hosting the gaudy reality competition TV show, “The Apprentice.â€
But since 2015, he's been a major political force, presiding over mass chaos, including a pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands, economic disasters, an escalation in bigotry, and unprecedented levels of corruption.
To be sure, the primary catalyst for Trump has been the Republican Party and his voters, but the constant force that has propelled Trump for nearly two decades has been Fox News.
After President Barack Obama took office in 2009, the racist birther conspiracy theory—which incorrectly argued that Obama was actually born in Kenya—went from the fringes of the right's fevered swamp and became a mainstream conservative talking point. This is largely thanks to Trump, who ceaselessly promoted the nakedly racist conspiracy.
It was a way for Trump to insert himself into the news, which we all now know is one of his primary reasons for existing. Fox News, which at the time was headed by network founder and serial sexual harasser Roger Ailes, picked up on this and began pushing Trump.
Trump became a regular guest on “Fox & Friends,†the network's flagship morning news program.
“I'm starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country,†he told the hosts in 2011.Â
It was around that time that Fox gave Trump a weekly spot on the program in segments called “Monday Mornings with Trump,†at which point he started hinting at a run for president.
Repeat exposure to Trump, who also regurgitated the obsessions of Fox News—opposing immigration, cutting the social safety net, and promoting racism and misogyny—increased his familiarity with the network's viewers, who are primarily older, extremely right-wing voters.
Trump declared his candidacy in 2015 and appeared on Fox News more than any other candidate. In an analysis of the 2016 campaign cycle, Media Matters for America found that Fox aired 49 hours' worth of interviews with Trump from May of 2015 to May 2016. That was more than twice as much time as the next candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
Trump won the GOP primary, and his time on Fox was key to his success.
Of course, Fox then supported Trump in the general election, campaigning on his behalf against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. When public polls showed that most voters thought Clinton won her debate against Trump, Fox cited easily manipulated online polls to argue that he won.
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By the start of Trump's first term in 2017, a feedback loop had been established that exists to this day. Trump imposed policies on the United States after they were suggested on Fox, and Fox would go on to tout these as successes.Â
The Trump-Fox connection was so close that there were reports of near-nightly phone calls between Trump and primetime host Sean Hannity, who many in Trump's inner circle called his “shadow chief of staff.â€
Even in defeat, Trump had Fox in his corner. After being annihilated in the 2020 election by former President Joe Biden, Trump insisted that he won, initiating the Jan. 6 insurrection. Fox went to the mat for Trump, airing and promoting absurdist conspiracies meant to delegitimize Biden's win.Â
In fact, Fox tried to help Trump to the tune of nearly $800 million, the amount it ended up paying to Dominion Voting Systems for promoting lies about the election results.
After he won in 2024, Trump returned the favor by packing his administration with the faces of Fox News. Before he was segregating the armed forces by purging transgender soldiers, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was nearly decapitating people as a Fox host.
As the world watches Trump fail in the presidency—again—botching the economy with his idiotic tariffs and Iran war, Fox remains at his side. After his first 100 days of chaos and failure to make any major achievements, Fox praised Trump for key accomplishments like … getting rid of the penny.
Trump and his Fox News allies are forever linked together—from the beginning of his political career to his ongoing near-daily meltdowns. The two work together as one destructive force, and we all have to suffer the consequences.
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