I recently received a question about Fox News viewers which was sent to my Friday Q&A sessions on this website. It was from "Andy D." who wanted to know why so many of those viewers had turned on Chris Wallace. “Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I don’t think I am,” Andy wrote. “Judging by online conversations and conservative blogs, it used to be that Fox News viewers respected and were generally proud to have Chris Wallace as part of the network. … But ever since Trump won, Wallace seems to be one of the more despised Fox News personalities (among the network’s viewers) — often framed as a biased anti-Trump pro-Democrat hack who needs to be fired. … In reality, he hasn’t changed at all. He’s the same guy they used to admire — fair, blunt, and still holding both sides’ feet to the fire.” Then came the $64,000 question: “Do these Fox News viewers no longer care about the network’s credibility? Do they no longer care about having reputable, professional journalists that they can hold up as examples to the network’s critics?” The answer I gave Andy is that the Fox News Channel’s most passionate viewers never really cared about the network’s credibility. They never really cared, either, about having professional journalists with reputations for fairness that they could hold up as examples of honest journalism to Fox’s many liberal critics. All they cared about was Fox giving them the kinds of opinions they already agreed with. “The kind of Fox viewers you describe,” I told Andy, “don’t care one bit about anything but pumping up the president. If he does something that puts him in a bad light, and Chris Wallace says so, they turn on Wallace.” Or, you will recall, they turn on Megyn Kelly. On August 6, 2015, at the first GOP presidential debate, she had this exchange with Donald Trump: "You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals," Kelly began. "Only Rosie O'Donnell," Trump said to applause and cheering. "For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O'Donnell," Kelly said. "Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. You once told a contestant on 'Celebrity Apprentice' it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?" It was a perfectly reasonable, fair, question. Except those passionate Fox viewers didn’t think so. (For the record, I’m making a distinction between Fox viewers in general and MAGA hard-right Fox viewers.) Choosing to side with a Fox anchor or with Donald Trump was a no brainer: They chose Mr. Trump who went on a tweeting rampage, calling Kelly, among other things, a bimbo. For those who haven’t figured it out yet, MAGA hard-right Fox viewers are loyal to Fox only when Megyn Kelly or Chris Wallace or anyone else on FNC tells them what they want to hear. When they don’t, they get hammered on social media and elsewhere. Just ask Bret Baier. He recently pushed back on a point conservative panelist Mollie Hemingway, a reliable defender of President Trump, was making about an interview Jared Kushner gave to Politico. Kushner was asked about the meeting he had at Trump Tower in June, 2016 with a Russian who claimed to have dirt on Hillary Clinton. At one point, the Politico reporter asked Kushner, if it happened
When Fox News' Most Loyal Fans Turn on Fox News
When Fox News' Most Loyal Fans Turn on Fox…
When Fox News' Most Loyal Fans Turn on Fox News
I recently received a question about Fox News viewers which was sent to my Friday Q&A sessions on this website. It was from "Andy D." who wanted to know why so many of those viewers had turned on Chris Wallace. “Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I don’t think I am,” Andy wrote. “Judging by online conversations and conservative blogs, it used to be that Fox News viewers respected and were generally proud to have Chris Wallace as part of the network. … But ever since Trump won, Wallace seems to be one of the more despised Fox News personalities (among the network’s viewers) — often framed as a biased anti-Trump pro-Democrat hack who needs to be fired. … In reality, he hasn’t changed at all. He’s the same guy they used to admire — fair, blunt, and still holding both sides’ feet to the fire.” Then came the $64,000 question: “Do these Fox News viewers no longer care about the network’s credibility? Do they no longer care about having reputable, professional journalists that they can hold up as examples to the network’s critics?” The answer I gave Andy is that the Fox News Channel’s most passionate viewers never really cared about the network’s credibility. They never really cared, either, about having professional journalists with reputations for fairness that they could hold up as examples of honest journalism to Fox’s many liberal critics. All they cared about was Fox giving them the kinds of opinions they already agreed with. “The kind of Fox viewers you describe,” I told Andy, “don’t care one bit about anything but pumping up the president. If he does something that puts him in a bad light, and Chris Wallace says so, they turn on Wallace.” Or, you will recall, they turn on Megyn Kelly. On August 6, 2015, at the first GOP presidential debate, she had this exchange with Donald Trump: "You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals," Kelly began. "Only Rosie O'Donnell," Trump said to applause and cheering. "For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O'Donnell," Kelly said. "Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. You once told a contestant on 'Celebrity Apprentice' it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?" It was a perfectly reasonable, fair, question. Except those passionate Fox viewers didn’t think so. (For the record, I’m making a distinction between Fox viewers in general and MAGA hard-right Fox viewers.) Choosing to side with a Fox anchor or with Donald Trump was a no brainer: They chose Mr. Trump who went on a tweeting rampage, calling Kelly, among other things, a bimbo. For those who haven’t figured it out yet, MAGA hard-right Fox viewers are loyal to Fox only when Megyn Kelly or Chris Wallace or anyone else on FNC tells them what they want to hear. When they don’t, they get hammered on social media and elsewhere. Just ask Bret Baier. He recently pushed back on a point conservative panelist Mollie Hemingway, a reliable defender of President Trump, was making about an interview Jared Kushner gave to Politico. Kushner was asked about the meeting he had at Trump Tower in June, 2016 with a Russian who claimed to have dirt on Hillary Clinton. At one point, the Politico reporter asked Kushner, if it happened