Podcast #205 - Fox News is Stumbling Trying to Cheerlead for Trump's War

Much like the seams in any suit jacket worn by the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth Fox News is barely keeping it together. The network still can’t get its message straight regarding Trump’s disastrous war in Iran.Fox is following the lead of its glorious leader, a man who appeared to act impulsively, when he decided to attack a country of 92 million people with one of the largest militaries in the Middle East.Trump is highly skilled at selling himself, at least to his cultish base of followers, as a powerful leader who can change the world through his force of will. He is a bumbling fool when it comes to getting Americans excited about his flights of fancy - conquering Greenland, seizing the Panama Canal, managing Venezuela, crushing Cuba and destroying the government of Iran.Trump has also failed to excited the masses about some of his economic policies such as broad sweeping tariffs on imports or the acquisition of Venezuelan oil which the president called ‘garbage tar’ when he was on the campaign trail.Trump makes no real attempt to sell the need for military conflict to the American public. The average American couldn’t identify Nicolás Maduro, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Ali Khamenei the deceased Iranian supreme leader or his son Mojtaba Khamenei in a line up.In comparison former president George W. Bush and his administration pitched the Iraq War for nearly a year and a half before the first shots were fired.Saddam Hussein and his sons Uday and Qusay became household names. Their excessive lifestyle and corruption along with their many crimes against humanity and the people of Iran were drilled into the minds of farmers, teachers and factory workers across the country.Bush was also exploiting a grief-stricken country as he falsely connected the horrific terrorist attack on 9/11 to Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq.Trump isn’t helping solidify support for his poorly planned war against Iran as he plays golf on the weekends, holds press conferences with his fawning cabinet members, and accepts meaningless awards meant to stroke his ego.Many Americans view Trump as a puppet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has longed to attack Iran for decades. The war is already unpopular and will only get more despised if Trump doesn’t change the perception that he is fighting on behalf of a foreign government’s interest.Fox News doesn’t know which way is up. Grainy aerial shots of trucks and buildings being obliterated aren’t exactly heroic. There are no clear goals or milestones and seemingly no exit strategy to Trump’s latest wild endeavor. 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 twisted itself into knots to convince its audience that a misguided and poorly planned war in the Middle East was a brilliant idea after its glorious leader promised - no new wars.To accomplish the impossible the network’s hosts weaved intricate tapestries of lies filled with invented histories of domestic oil production, gas prices, Trump’s previous attacks on Iran, fairy tales of enriched uranium and a revolution that could start at any moment.Less than a year ago Fox News celebrated the success of Operation Midnight Hammer a military strike that was supposed to obliterate Iran’s ability to create a nuclear weapon.Then with very little warning Trump started a war with Iran under the guise that the regime was about to attack the United States or Israel with the same nuclear weapons he claimed to have wiped off the face of the planet.The zombie nuclear program seems to exist only in Trump’s mind and Fox News is happy to dutifully go along with his delusion. It’s getting more difficult with each passing day for the network to pull this off.Instead of the usual segments meant to keep Fox viewers terrified of undocumented immigrants, woke blue-haired liberals, transgender folks and urban crime the network has gone headfirst into a fabricated reality based on hunches, feelings and the dreams of a deranged narcissist with imperialist fantasies in the throes of dementia. 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 on Fox overpaid television personalities tried to fake their way through a war they didn’t understand. As the president changed the reasons he started the military conflict with Iran the folks at Fox struggled to forge a coherent message about it.The propaganda machine sputtered and stumbled. The network kept repeating Trump’s mixed messages:* The war was already over/The war will be over soon/This isn’t a war* High gas prices are a small price to pay for freedom/Gas prices will drop immediately/Americans don’t care about high gas prices* There will be no ground invasion of U.S. troops/There might be a short ground invasion of U.S. troops* We’ve killed their leadership/The new leadership is worse than the old leadership* Trump is the peace president/Trump has started military conflicts with seven different countries* This war will bring long-term peace/Every problem in the world is caused by Iran* Russia is helping Iran/Russia is not a concern/This war is about China* The U.S. is NOT fighting Iran for Israel/Sean Hannity featured a 21 minute interview with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi NetanyahuWhen Fox News hosts weren’t talking out of both sides of their mouths, they were promoting Trump’s lies.* Americans overwhelmingly approve of Trump’s decision to attack Iran - several polls say otherwise* Iran was capable of a nuclear attack on the U.S. or Israel - despite no evidence supporting this* The people of Iran will rise up and take over their government - so far no such movement has formed. It could be because people don’t want to stage a revolution while being attacked by the U.S. and Israel* Trump’s promises of ‘no new wars’ did not mean he’s an isolationistIn the four years I’ve covered Fox News the past week is the weakest I’ve ever seen the network. Instead of a streamlined well thought out strategy to promote the war the network’s messaging is a sloppy mess full of contradictions. 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 Caroline Henry, Harshi Peiris, Ph.D., Kiwi Rebel, CO, eric, and many others for tuning into my live video with Charlie Sykes and Jim Acosta! 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 Fox News tried to do three things - venerate the president, trash Democrats and convince its viewers that the Epstein files were somehow all about the network’s favorite arch nemesis Hillary Clinton. By the end of the week Fox got slammed by a news story it couldn’t ignore - the U.S. military attack on Iran.Before Donald J. Trump made the wildly risky move to attack Iran he had hit a bit of a rough patch. An investigation by NPR and other outlets found evidence that the DOJ had withheld interviews by a woman who accused President Trump of sexually abusing her when she was a minor.Fox News completely ignored this bombshell and tried to hype up Bill and Hillary Clinton’s testimony about their relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.Hillary and Bill Clinton’s testimony about the Epstein files proved to be another nothing burger for the propaganda network. The Clintons did not revealed any new information that could link them to a crime or any wrongdoing.Trump’s incredibly long State of the Union address was so dull and lackluster his personal propaganda network (Fox News) spent most of its airtime after the speech attacking Democrats rather than praising Trump.Recent polls have shown any gains Trump made with Hispanic and Black voters have completely evaporated while independent, young and some lower income voters have also soured on the president.Democrats continue to outperform in local and state races while grocery prices remain stubbornly high. Since Friday the network has enthusiastically beaten the drums of war in a conflict few Americans wanted. 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 Julie Duffy Dillon, It’s Time, Jackie Taylor Miller, Nick G, A Dude On The Couch, Oddwood, and many others for tuning into my live video with Chris Sampson! 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

Fox News hosts generally seemed a bit panicked about how Trump would handle the speech. After Trump was finished Laura Ingraham praised him at length while Sean Hannity focused on trashing Democrats. The tone on the network was less than confident. 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 becoming increasingly obvious that Trump’s mountain of broken promises, radical foreign policy decisions and unorthodox economic policies are causing deep damage to his MAGA brand.Last week the Supreme Court, with three Trump appointees, ruled against Trump’s use of IEEPA to issue tariffs.The court’s ruling was only one of many failures for Trump last week as newly revised jobs data showed a major contraction in the labor market last year. The trade deficit in 2025 showed little improvement despite Trump’s widespread use of tariffs and the fourth quarter GDP reading was well below expectations.According to multiple polls Americans have tired of Trump’s harsh immigration policies, and military threats to foreign countries. Most voters have no interest in conquering Greenland, crushing Cuba, managing Venezuela or invading Iran.Grocery prices and utility bills remain elevated while Trump gaslights the American public insisting that costs for everything have dropped dramatically. Health insurance premiums for millions of Americans have dramatically increased while SNAP and Medicaid benefits have been cut.Meanwhile the president remains obsessed with his gigantic White House ballroom and plans for an oversized monumental arch built in his honor.The glorious leader has lost support among nearly every demographic except for his cultish base of supporters. There are even signs that diehard MAGA fans are losing faith.Underneath all of the spin more sinister details surrounding Trump’s possible involvement with Jeffrey Epstein’s many heinous crimes and sex trafficking operation remains.Fox News is desperate to keep the Trump myth alive either by ignoring stories that make the president look bad or spending excessive amounts of coverage on segments that aren’t political.One sign of the network’s panicked approach was the fact that Barack Obama’s name appeared 74 times in the transcripts last week. No kidding. 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

An overview of how Fox News covered the SCOTUS ruling for Trump’s tariff policies from Friday February 20, 2026 from The Will Cain Show at 4PM to Hannity at 10PM. 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 on Fox News Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters and other overpaid Fox News personalities proved there is no limit to the depravity and hypocrisy on the Murdoch owned media empire. The network seemed desperate to focus on the Nancy Guthrie abduction rather than talk about anything that might make its glorious leader, an increasingly demented cruel sociopath, look bad.Gutfeld made dismissive jokes about Nancy Guthrie, an ailing 85-year-old grandmother who was abducted from her home outside of Tucson, Arizona. Two horrifying pieces of evidence in the case include a video of a masked man approaching her front door in the middle of the night and a trail of the elderly woman’s blood scattered across her entryway.The diminutive perpetually angry Gutfeld! host appeared annoyed that his employer was spending so much time on the story so he lashed out at his own network like a spoiled child.Jesse Watters joked that Jeffrey Epstein was some type of fixer who helped rich and powerful men ‘get a girl.’ He could have easily substituted the word woman for girl but chose to make light of the sexual abuse of children.His co-host Kennedy joked Epstein’s associates might need some penicillin presumably for sexually transmitted diseases. Never mind the abuse of children who were smuggled to Epstein’s island from overseas or led to his compound under false pretenses.Some of Epstein’s victims have committed suicide. A U.N. panel found Epstein could have been running a global criminal enterprise that included crimes against humanity.The hundreds of child sex trafficking victims were reduced to an inconvenience for their older and much more powerful abusers. This is after months when Watters spent more time than anyone else on Fox News condemning Epstein for his crimes. 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