Podcast #234 - Fox News: A Festival of the Fear of Foreigners

Months ago, I decided to go through all 117 Trump campaign rallies from 2023-2024. Each event is about 90 minutes long, so it’s been quite an undertaking. I’ve only gotten through 72.I wanted to see patterns in how he spun his exaggerations and lies to send his followers down the MAGA rabbit hole. Although Trump is a natural salesman in many ways, he’s had so many business failures that it’s astounding that he was able to transfix about one-third of this country.After failing to sell steaks, bottled water, vodka, supplements, mortgages, cologne, shuttle flights, a board game and a gambling experience at luxurious casinos Trump finally found his magical elixir for the masses - xenophobia.The hatred of immigrants, foreigners or anyone who is seen as different was the ultimate Trump product.Just as fascist leaders have scapegoated marginal groups in the past Donald J. Trump took aim at the most vulnerable.He created a mythology that included world leaders purposefully trafficking hardened criminals past our borders to sow chaos and unrest.Every social ill in the United States was caused by immigrants - high housing costs, unemployment, violent crime and the disintegration of what Trump called the American dream.The only solution was to seal off the border, expel the outsiders and attack trade partners with punitive tariffs. Transgender folks were also thrown on the pyre of hatred.As more Americans are souring on Trump Fox News is falling back on his old tactics. In the last few weeks before the midterm elections the network has ramped up hatred and fear towards Somali Americans and Muslims.Xenophobia is old hat for Fox News. The network has enthusiastically trashed and smeared immigrants for years. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

As Trump travels across the country to give speeches in mostly deeply red states his propaganda machine is running out of ideas.The network has tried every way possible to lift the president’s sagging poll numbers and boost Republican candidates in the midterm elections.It’s not working. Most polls continue to favor Democrats even in races that Republicans would have won easily four years ago.Since there is no imposing migrant caravan headed towards the southern border Fox News had to get creative.The network shifted its focus to Europe. Fox News hosts declared that student protests in France were a sign of future riots in the United States.Fox News also told its viewers that the controversial arrest of a teenager over hate speech laws in the U.K. could lead to the erosion of the First Amendment.None of this made any sense but the network needed to whip up its viewers into a frenzy of xenophobic and racial hatred without alienating Black and Latino voters who might vote for Republicans.Fox News went back to an old target - Muslim Americans. Jesse Watters implied that their culture and religion were fundamentally un-American.The network also scapegoated the Somali American community, which also happens to be mostly Muslim, as the primary source of the decay and rot in suburban Midwestern America.The Black and Latino population in the United States is significantly larger than the Muslim community which only makes up about 1% of the total U.S. population. There is a significant Muslim population in Texas though so Fox News risks alienating folks in what could be a razor thin election for the U.S. Senate in that state.I have no doubt the day after the midterm elections that Fox News will go right back to focusing on urban crime and immigrants from Central and South America. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News continued to scramble to come up with content that would keep its viewers’ eyes on the screen while it avoided unpleasant news for Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party.The latest jobs report was dismal, the president’s approval ratings hit a record low and polling for Republican candidates continued to drop.The Network tried to distract its audience with segments about National Pumpkin Spice Day, Fat Bear Week, salacious criminal trials and the body cam footage from the arrest of Luigi Mangione.Fox News hosts also made excuses for President Trump and problematic candidates like Ken Paxton. More Fox News hosts joined Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade in their outspoken criticism of the war with Iran.More than one Fox News host also begrudgingly brought up the outrage surrounding the Epstein files, a topic the network has ignored for several months. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Normally at this point in an election year Fox News includes segments with photogenic and well-spoken voters who say glowing things about President Trump and the Republican Party.Fox News normally loves to welcome a bunch of hand-selected folks from various backgrounds to sit in neat rows on the Fox & Friends set and share their thoughts about an upcoming election.There’s always a couple of moderate Democrats thrown into the mix for good measure but never anyone who might cause an outburst or stage a protest in the middle of the segment.Everyone is pre-screened and well known by the network as Fox News tends to reuse the same ‘undecided voters’ and ‘independents’ in segments for multiple election cycles.According to my research the last voter panel I captured was back in May when an independent voter, who had been featured in several segments over the course of the past few years, said she was unhappy with how Trump had handled inflation.Another missing element for this midterm cycle are the cheery early-morning diner segments from across the country.In the run-up to the 2024 election Fox even included segments in Black barbershops where Lawrence Jones spoke to enthusiastic Trump supporters who had obviously been interviewed and invited to participate before appearing on air.So far in this election cycle the voter panels and diner segments have been replaced with professional pundits, Republican strategists, pollsters, cabinet members and elected officials who toe the party line.I suspect the network doesn’t trust how even pre-screened human beings might react on live television if they were asked about the state of the country right now.Last week Fox News tried to hype up Trump’s appearance at the U.N. General Assembly, and Xi Jinping’s trip to Washington. The network also continued to promote data centers and artificial intelligence.Most polls show American voters strongly dislike data centers and have little interest in foreign policy.For this week’s newsletter I’ve collected the best examples of the network’s desperate attempts to sell a failing presidency to disillusioned voters who just wanted cheaper gas and groceries. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

It’s getting more obvious by the day on Fox News that the MAGA dream is dying and the network has given up on trying to revive it.For weeks the folks on the network have tried to send signals to Trump that voters weren’t happy with the war in Iran or the state of the economy.It hasn’t worked. As Americans struggle to pay for gas and groceries their glorious leader threatens to destroy The Kennedy Center.Trump’s disconnect with the public is profound. During rallies meant to boost struggling Republican candidates the president calls the affordability crisis a hoax and claims he’s gotten prices down.Meanwhile Americans are paying more for nearly everything.Last week Fox News answered the call by defending the AI industry. It was an odd move considering recent polls have shown that most Americans remain concerned about the use of AI and the harm it might cause.Americans distrust and hatred of data centers have gotten stronger in recent months despite the network’s best efforts to promote them.Fox News was reacting to a series of statements and warnings made by experts in artificial intelligence who have been pleading with the government for more regulation in their industry.One whistleblower even said he thought AI superintelligence could destroy humanity by the end of the decade.Superintelligence refers to computer systems that exceed the cognitive function of human beings across all fields. Experts worry that AI superintelligence could become uncontrollable by its human creators.Fox News hosts didn’t appear to understand the technology as Greg Gutfeld compared AI to a kitchen blender and Jesse Watters promoted it as an all-purpose tool to solve every problem.At the same time the upcoming midterm elections cast a cloud of doom over the network. Instead of hyping up struggling Republican congressional candidates Fox News spent the rest of its focus, on the actress Sydney Sweeney, the controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, the Lindsay Clancy trial and the rapper Macklemore.The network also brought up any criminal case it could find involving undocumented immigrants.Like the president Fox News ignored the affordability crisis and the war with Iran. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Thank you PJ Schuster, Carole, Maureen Drews, Jackie Taylor Miller, Fat News Daily 📰, and many others for tuning into my live video with Aaron Rupar! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week as the Republican Party held a 14-hour Midterm election extravaganza Fox News, the network most closely aligned with the president and the GOP, downplayed the event.Instead of focusing its cameras on the speakers who appeared live onstage at the convention the network spent most of its airtime on a luxury box at the American Airlines Center. There in a makeshift television studio Fox News hosts, popular Republican lawmakers, podcasters and pundits discussed the midterm election.For The Five, the network’s top-rated show, the corporate leadership at Fox chose to include only one segment about the convention then moved onto other news stories.The cast of The Five stayed in New York City as did Jesse Watters.Twenty underperforming Republican candidates from around the country spoke during the event. Fox News only featured five of them.During its coverage of the convention it almost seemed at times as if Fox News was aggressively trying to cover up what was happening onstage. On the first day of the event The network completely erased an extended segment dedicated to the UFC.Fox News might have suspected the event would be a flop as the ratings for the first night of the convention ended up being around three million. In comparison the 2024 Republican convention averaged over 19 million viewers per night.The broadcast networks ABC, CBS and NBC were unable to include the event without being in violation of the FCC fairness doctrine since there was no equivalent event for the Democratic Party. Fox News is able to show the convention because cable networks are not subject to the same FCC rules.The convention was also carried by two other Nielsen-rated channels Newsmax and NewsNation. It was also streamed on various platforms across the internet including Fox Nation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Every now and then I see cracks in the matrix of the well-formed Fox News propaganda apparatus. President Trump’s many manic social media posts, the failing war in Iran and his rapidly sinking poll numbers are all taking their toll on the network.Fox News hosts are tired of the nonstop chaos that is Trump 2.0.Last week multiple Fox News hosts appeared to almost malfunction as they spoke openly and candidly about problems with Trump’s economic policies, the high price of gasoline and the prospect of major losses in the midterms.They seemed to be trying to signal to their glorious leader to change course. Fox News management knows its programming is a conduit to Trump’s rapidly deteriorating mind and fragile ego.We’ll find out during his speech at the midterm convention if he got the message. I doubt he has.Fox News also spent a lot of time covering the Lindsay Clancy trial, various crime stories and the pre-trial hearing for Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the murder of Charlie Kirk.Fox & Friends was the only program that spent any time or energy on the war with Iran. The segments about the conflict were very sparse and did not include much commentary.In stark contrast the conflict was the top topic on The PBS News Hour. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

If desperation had a scent all of Midtown Manhattan would be overwhelmed from the stench generated by Fox News headquarters. What started out as a dream for the network on January 20, 2025, has turned into a nightmare of another never-ending war in the Middle East, high gas prices, a rise in the popularity of socialism, and a mentally declining president who is more focused on his vanity projects than his campaign promises.Fox News was so panicked the network dedicated entire segments to Hasan Piker, a controversial leftwing Twitch streamer who is not well known outside of his specific audience.The network has brought up Piker and his problematic statements for the past few months. Last week his name showed up in the transcripts 73 times which was more often than the words Israel, China, Biden, gas or even midterm appeared.The network is determined to make Piker the new face of the Democratic Party even though he has an army of critics among prominent left of center lawmakers and political pundits.He also has made no move to seek public office or engage in fundraising at a scale that would rival a PAC or mega donor.Other than Fox’s obsessive coverage of Piker the network was a jumbled mess of pop culture stories, fantasies involving Hillary Clinton, deceptive segments about an interview with Abdul El-Sayed and fawning praise for the glorious leader - Donald J. Trump. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Fox News took things to another level last week in the network’s attempts to avoid talking about Trump’s disastrous war in the Middle East, high gas prices, a sluggish economy and the president’s obsession with his gilded building projects.The network spent over 1/3 of its airtime on the shows I covered last week trashing Democrats mostly Abdul El-Sayed and Angie Nixon.Nixon is a talented and charismatic Florida state rep who easily won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. She is unapologetically loud and known for sharing her opinions on the House floor with a pink bullhorn.She is also the exact type of politician Fox News loves to target and demonize - a powerful and intelligent Black woman.Other major stories last week included a trial involving a mother with postpartum psychosis, a student led cocaine ring at Penn State, a brawl at a Major League Baseball game and the never-ending scandal involving a comment made by a WNBA player about transgender athletes.Fox News also continued to try to change public sentiment surrounding enormous data centers and the use of AI.Meanwhile gas prices remained elevated while Trump’s approval numbers plummeted. Measles cases continued to rise across the country while the U.S. food supply has become increasingly dangerous with recalls of beef, blueberries, jalapeños and even popsicles.The national debt also reached a staggering $40 trillion last week.While everything crumbles around him Trump led the press on an extended tour of construction sites for a planned White House helipad and his grand ballroom/security fortress.Fox News also largely ignored a growing scandal involving Natalie Harp, a close presidential aide whom the Secret Service is worried has an unhealthy relationship with Donald J. Trump. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe