Even Fox News Cannot Put Lipstick on the Bloated Pig Anymore

A condensed overview of 24 hours on Fox News for the week ending 7/19/26

Last week the folks at Fox News seemed like the frustrated parents of a juvenile delinquent son who was caught setting his high school principal’s car on fire.

The network had no problem spinning measles outbreaks, the Epstein files coverup, the murder of Iranian school children, the mass pardon of cop beaters, the president’s insider trading, self-dealing, foreign bribes, vanity projects, or his deference to Bibi Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin.

Fox News didn’t seem to care that he kept threatening the very foundations of our democracy with unconstitutional executive orders while openly defying various court rulings.

The network didn’t mind when high-ranking members of the Trump administration openly lied about details regarding the death of two American citizens at the hands of federal law enforcement agents.

The spikes in inflation, gasoline prices and residential electricity rates weren’t even speed bumps to the folks at Fox News who kept insisting the country was experiencing a new golden age of prosperity.

As the Ukraine War raged on without an end in sight no one on Fox News seemed to remember Trump’s promise to end it before he was sworn in for his second term.

Even his deeply unpopular war of choice in the Middle East didn’t cause much concern.

Last Thursday their glorious leader took a step too far when he used up about a half an hour of primetime television to spin the same election lies that cost the network $787.5 million. Fox News still faces a $2 billion defamation lawsuit from Smartmatic for the lies the network knowingly promoted about the 2020 election.

Trump committed the ultimate sin. He was messing with the money.

Since Trump’s primetime address I’ve noticed a subtle shift on Fox News away from the president. The network is still trying to terrify its audience about the looming threat of a communist takeover of radical Democrats.

Fox News is still demonizing transgender folks and undocumented immigrants. It continues to beat the drum about the evils of diversity, equity and inclusion in American institutions.

The network mocks what it calls ‘woke’ celebrities while it promotes racist tropes about urban crime and the decay of western civilization. The cultural battles are never-ending while some of the shine of their populist hero is chipping off like the American Flag Blue coating on the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.

Last week I noticed a slight transition away from the usual praise for the president. It’s beginning to sink in that his administration could be a catastrophe for the conservative movement and the Fox News media empire.

Shows I covered on Fox News last week:

• Fox & Friends - all three hours on Monday

• The Five

• The Ingraham Angle

• Jesse Watters Primetime

• Hannity - Thursday and Friday

• Trump’s many press appearances and events

How Fox News Covered Trump’s Primetime Speech

Immediately after the address Fox News producers cut back to Sean Hannity in studio. The Fox News host simply described the speech. He did not add much commentary.

“All right, President Donald J. Trump. from the East Room at the White House. He had a lot to say tonight talking about the economy, how he inherited a nation in decline. Nation he described as dead. He talked about the border crime in America, how it’s all down, the issue of Iran. Also talked about, free and fair elections. Now, the president, if you go to WhiteHouse.gov has and will has now releasing what he believes has all the corroboration that you would ever need. What is pretty remarkable, what he says are in these documents. I’m sure that anybody, that cares about truth will want to do a deep dive into all of this. Talking about the Communist Chinese, our number one geopolitical foe, literally having access names, addresses, party affiliation, phone numbers of over 220 million Americans,” said Hannity.

Aishah Hasnie, a Fox News anchor and White House correspondent was clear to point out that no one at the network was supporting Trump’s statements.

“Sean, you also heard the president made claims that electronic voting machines are vulnerable and easily compromised. Fox News has not seen that evidence yet is not in a position to evaluate the accuracy of the president’s statements and claims at this time.”

No one on the shows I covered on Fox News last week gave this story any importance or focus. There wasn’t a single reference to ‘election interference’ in the transcripts from last week.

Trump’s primetime address was not brought up again on Fox & Friends, The Five, The Ingraham Angle, Jesse Watters Primetime or Hannity.

No one repeated or supported any of the false claims President Trump made in his speech. None of the Fox News hosts even brought up that other networks refused to broadcast it.

Some of Trump’s comments along with the documents on WhiteHouse.gov inferred that a voting company, Smartmatic, might have played a nefarious role in the Venezuelan elections.

This is absolutely false. The New York Times did an analysis of the documents along with Trump’s comments and found that the president distorted the findings of the CIA analysis.

Smartmatic currently has a $2 billion defamation lawsuit pending against Fox News.

On Friday every evening show that I covered opened with an extended segment trashing Democrats. That morning Fox & Friends started its first hour with a story about the conflict in Iran.

How Fox News Covered the War in Iran

Monday - I killed their Leaders! They threatened to Kill Me!

Fox News finally seemed to coordinate their coverage on the war in Iran across multiple programs. On Monday every show I covered focused on two things - the U.S. decapitation of Iranian leadership and the alleged Iranian plots to assassinated President Trump.

“As far as the plot to assassinate President Trump, as relayed by Israeli intelligence, the U.S. Secret Service issued a statement while we do not confirm or comment on intelligence matters, we consume information on a global level to effectively execute our protective operations,” said Fox News correspondent Mike Tobin on Fox & Friends.

“As he’s talked about the umpteenth assassination plot against him,” said Emily Compagno on The Five.

Her co-host Jesse Watters mentioned the assassination of Iranian leadership.

“But what’s happened is the decapitation strikes in the first couple of weeks of this operation were so devastating, we basically fractured their leadership. So the people that signed this thing, they’re just the politicians, the people with the guns, the military. They’re seeing their power slipping away if they have peace.”

Tom Shillue, comedian and guest host for The Five seemed concerned that Iran had plans to kill world leaders.

“Did you see their latest? I call it a hit list. They said it’s their revenge list. Macron is number one. Starmer and Trump. He listed all three of those.”

It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone on Fox News that Iran might try to assassinate the U.S. president. Trump has bragged for weeks that he killed multiple tiers of Iranian leaders.

Iran has also been a sponsor of terrorist groups in the Middle East for decades. It would be far more surprising if Iran calmly agreed to a peace agreement.

Tuesday - Guardians of the Strait!

President Trump started the week declaring he wanted to charge a 20% toll on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Within 24 hours he dropped the idea switching to a vague promise by Gulf states agreeing to additional business investments with the United States.

The folks at Fox knew their marching orders. Suddenly the U.S. had become the Guardians of the Strait!

On Fox & Friends Lou Basenese of Fox Business saw Trump’s indecision as a masterful strategic move.

“I think this is the tariff logic applied to Iran. So it’s escalate to negotiate. I don’t think we’ll ever see this 20% cargo fee.”

On The Five Martha MacCallum opened the segment with the talking point for the day.

“America’s Guardian of the Strait.”

Kayleigh McEnany used the exact same phrase.

“And Trump making good on his promise to become the guardian of the Strait. . . Do you hear President Trump abandoning his original plan to charge a 20% toll on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz? And instead, the president says America will be compensated through massive new trade and investment commitments from Gulf allies.”

Martha MacCallum attempted to read the president’s mind.

“One thought on the, the issue of the charging people to go through the strait. I think President Trump is still really, really angry at Europe for not stepping in, because if you flooded that strait with European ships, they don’t have a lot of them and our ships and all of the allies and said, look, this is an open, free passageway. But they needed a large presence in order to do that. So he’s like, you guys are the ones who get oil through here anyway. And so why don’t you pay extra to come through here? If we’re going to be the guardians of the Strait and protect it?”

It never occurred to MacCallum that most of Europe is within striking distance of an Iranian ballistic missile. European leaders, even NATO members, are under no obligation to join a war the U.S. started.

NATO was meant as a defensive alliance. The U.S. started the aggression with Iran.

Later that night Laura Ingraham also mentioned Trump’s plans for the strait.

‘President Trump scrapped his plan to charge ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Instead, the US naval blockade is in effect.”

She also spoke with Nathan Sales, former Ambassador at Large and Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State, during Trump’s first term.

He also argued for European help to secure the waterway.

“Yeah, we need to be sharing the burden equitably among everybody that has an interest in Iran not being a regional hegemon. That’s us. But it’s also the Gulf Arab states, and it’s also our European allies. Now, not every country has the naval capabilities that the British do, and the French do, too, can force commercial shipping through a very narrow chokehold. But those who do have the capabilities should stand up and those who don’t have those capabilities. There’s other ways for them to contribute economically, diplomatically and so on. So this is a team effort. The United States is not going to be the world’s policeman. We will lead, but we need followers to help us out,” said Sales.

If the United States was truly the ‘Guardian of the Strait’ then we shouldn’t need help from Europe.

No one repeated ‘Guardians of the Strait’ after Tuesday. The catch phrase was completely dropped.

Wednesday - Bridge and Power Plant Day

The next morning Joey Johnny Jones made a startling comment about President Trump.

“One thing this president does it maybe presents in the past haven’t done is he uses posturing when he says next week is ‘Bridge and power plant day.’ That’s not a message to the American people. That’s not a message to the American military. That’s a message to Iran. The hope is it doesn’t have to get to that. The problem is, when you make a threat like that, you have to fulfill it. And President Trump is known for doing that.”

The president is actually known for making threats towards Iran and not following through with them.

His co-host Lawrence Jones brought up the prospect of using ground troops.

“You know, some people have talked about the president saying, Kharg Island are going to get the nuclear dust and then require ground troops to be able to do that the right way. And there could be casualties. And the president has made it very clear he doesn’t want to have to do that unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

On The Five Dana Perino repeated the same messaging.

“The commander in chief was out in Pennsylvania telling the regime that they better behave if they want to avoid bridge and power plant day . . . and Vice President J.D. Vance telling Joe Rogan that right now, ground troops are off the table if tensions continue to escalate.”

Jesse Watters also added to the discussion as only he could.

“This is the bridge of the bridge and power plant day.”

Perino then pulled back a bit on the idea of using ground troops.

“They are able to do a lot of things where you don’t have to have boots on the ground.”

That night on Jesse Watters Primetime Watters seemed to explain his previously confusing statement on The Five.

“We hit a railway bridge That’s crucial for Iran’s trade with Russia and China. So now the land blockades up right alongside the wall of steel. This is a warning of a bridge before bridge and power plant day.”

If the U.S. military destroys civilian infrastructure such as bridges and power plants its actions could be considered war crimes. This has been briefly discussed on Fox News but no one on the networks seemed to take the prospect of the U.S. military committing war crimes seriously.

Thursday - Boots on the Ground

On Thursday the network made a far more aggressive pitch for ramping up our kinetic strikes against Iran.

Harold Ford Jr. brought it up first on The Five.

“If we need more military action to achieve our goals, lay out for the American people with the objective is and let’s get to it.”

The Fox News host simply known as Kennedy shared her concern about the use of ground troops.

“All right. But more military action obviously means more U.S. service members in harm’s way. That’s a risky proposition for this president.”

Jesse Watters matched the tone of his co-host.

“Well, he said he didn’t think the country had the stomach for major ground operations. And it probably doesn’t.”

That evening he had changed his mind on Jesse Watters Primetime.

“This may require a ground assault to secure strategic islands.”

Later on Hannity former advisor to President Trump retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg.

“But I will tell you, aerial strikes alone won’t do the job. The Germans learned that in World War Two when they put the Blitz on London. You’re not talking about a grand invasion ground invasion of Iran. You can’t get there. It’s too hard to do. The country is too large. I’ve seen war games on that. You just can’t get to it. So he does some strategically and he gets he takes these targets out being Kharg Island, the Straits of Hormuz, he opens up the strait. They lose all of their leverage.”

Laura Ingraham did not include any segments about the war in Iran for either Wednesday or Thursday last week. She didn’t even mention the conflict on either day.

Friday - The Houthis or Something?

By the end of the week the network’s messaging fell apart.

The folks on Fox & Friends mainly focused on the Houthis Iran’s proxy terrorist group in Yemen.

“One of the first things President Trump did remember the whole signal chat thing. That was in response to an offensive against the Houthis to stop them from shutting down the Red Sea. Do they remember that,” asked Brian Kilmeade.

His co-host Lawrence Jones was hopeful that somehow the U.S. could openly combat the terrorist group.

“So we were told Ainsley initially that, you know, when it came to the Houthis that Israel was the problem, that Israel was going on their territory. I hope they get involved so we can eliminate them as well.”

Ainsley Earhardt was also concerned about their involvement.

“An airstrike, our airstrike campaign by increasingly hitting these bridges. And what do you what do you guys make of the Houthis possibly being involved in this? Because Iran has asked the Houthi terrorists, as we’ve been talking about this morning, to prepare to close a critical part of the Red Sea, this gateway.”

Brian Kilmeade had a completely different viewpoint about the militant group.

“But I’m not for the Houthis. Get involved because temporarily they’re going to shut down additional oil it could go to $150 a barrel. That would hurt everyone in the short term.”

I expected more discussion about the Houthis but later that evening Laura Ingraham made a few sharp comments about Vice President J.D. Vance’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast.

“The blockade resumed. Gas prices have bumped back up. . . .And he’s right. The public voted for President Trump precisely because they did not want endless wars.”

In the next hour on Jesse Watters Primetime John Teichert, a retired Air Force Brigadier General seemed excited about the use of ground troops in Iran.

“So if the president so chooses to implement a ground invasion in that area, then it would be easier, it would be safer and more effective. And all of those things are stemming from these type of operational targets that have been struck in the last couple of days.”

Fox vs. PBS - How Two Networks Covered the Cyclosporiasis Outbreak

In the past few weeks as an outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a gastrointestinal illness caused by a parasite, has spread across the country Fox News and PBS handled the story quite differently.

The PBS News Hour started reporting on the story a couple of weeks ago. Fox News waited until last week to dedicate a full-length segment on it.

On Monday last week Fox & Friends included a segment with Dr. Marc Siegel, a senior medical analyst for the network. Ainsley Earhardt led the interview.

The morning program spent less than two minutes on the story.

Earhardt: People in different states are hospitalized because of a parasite. I can understand if a restaurant you get one parasite because the chef didn’t wash his hands. But in this case, it’s 31 different states. What is causing this?

Siegel: It’s probably over 3000 cases. It’s something called cyclospora that basically doesn’t get absorbed past your intestine. So that’s good. But you get a lot of diarrhea, fatigue. You can get dehydrated. And that’s why people are getting hospitalized. The very young, the very old, the immunocompromised. It doesn’t get absorbed and it doesn’t pass through the air or anything. It has to be in the environment for days before it’s infectious. It’s actually hard to get rid of. But the good news is it only works in these really hot months. You’re not going to see this in August and September. It’s peaking, but we have almost never seen it this much before. And the reason is we don’t know exactly where it came from. Usually it’s from mix lettuce, produce raspberries, something that we import from somewhere else. It comes in and we track it and we say, this is it. Let’s get rid of this. Let’s get this out of circulation. We haven’t been able to figure out the exact origin. That’s one of the reasons it’s spreading. Michigan is getting really hit hard with this over 1500 cases.

How PBS covered the same story

Also, on Monday William Brangham interviewed Dr. Omer Awan from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Awan is also a board-certified practicing physician.

The segment on PBS was far more comprehensive. The network dedicated nearly seven minutes to the story.

Brangham: Some critics have pointed out that CDC last year stepped back from some of its foodborne sort of poison pathogen surveillance. Is that contributing to this problem at all or not?

Awan: I would say absolutely it is, William, for a couple reasons. One is, remember that the the HHS and the federal government laid off a lot of CDC employees. Many of them were the very employees that would track these particular outbreaks. And the other is is that, from July of 2025 last year, the CDC has no longer required reporting cyclosporiasis has become optional to report this to the CDC food borne disease active surveillance network. So, this is precisely why we don’t have a good handle of exactly the number of cases. If you remember, the CDC has reported less than a thousand cases, but we know that there are more than 3000 or 4000 cases. I mean, there are more than 2600 cases in Michigan alone. So, the states have more of an accurate representation. And actually, even the federal government, the CDC. So these two reasons are really the main reasons why our response outbreak has really been hampered, for cyclosporiasis.

Candidate Endorsements

The network only spent 0.74% airtime on the shows I covered endorsing candidates.

• Mike Rogers - U.S. Senate, Michigan - Republican

• Bruce Blackeman - Governor, New York - Republican

Senator Lindsey Graham’s Passing

The sudden and unexpected death of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also took up a significant portion of programming last week. The only Fox News hosts to hint that there could have been foul play involved with his death was Jesse Watters.

Graham death at age 71 was caused by an aortic dissection which can be caused partially by hardening of the arteries and high blood pressure. Graham’s father died at the age of 69 of a sudden heart attack in his sleep.

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States.

Stories Fox News Ignored

Every week I compare the hours I’ve watched on Fox News to five hours of the PBS News Hour. The following list are stories that PBS covered that Fox News did not. This list has been truncated for space. Source - The PBS News Hour transcripts.

• A federal judge in Florida issued a scathing ruling last week regarding President Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS, saying it was filed for, as she put it, an improper purpose. Judge Kathleen Williams, an Obama appointee, also referred the lawyer who brought the case to the Florida bar for possible disciplinary action. President Trump had sued the IRS for $10 billion over the leak of his tax information by an agency contractor. The DOJ settlement of the case included the creation of a $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund, which was scrapped after bipartisan criticism. (PBS News Hour)

• Ukraine is joining nine other nations in creating a coalition to protect Europe from the threat of Russia’s ballistic missiles. The air defense arrangement was announced last week at a gathering of world leaders in Paris. It’s seen as an alternative to the U.S. Patriot missile system. For his part, President Putin promised more strikes against Ukraine in response to recent drone attacks on Russian oil targets. Moscow launched more than 100 drones and missiles across Ukraine last week. Ukrainian officials say at least two people were killed and dozens more injured. (PBS News Hour)

• An American aid worker who tested positive for Ebola is now in stable condition at a hospital in Germany. The individual had been working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has now confirmed more than 1,900 cases and at least 702 deaths from the outbreak. Dozens of health workers at one hospital have gone on strike over their working conditions and unpaid salaries.

  And the virus continues to spread, with health officials saying it’s now in two more provinces. Last week, the University of Oxford launched its first human trial of a vaccine aimed at reining in the outbreak. (PBS News Hour)

• California and 11 other states are challenging Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. In a lawsuit filed last week, they argue the $81 billion deal would extinguish competition and threaten jobs in the media industry. The Justice Department has already signed off on the deal, which would combine the likes of HBO Max and CNN with CBS and Paramount+, among others.

  A Paramount spokesperson said §the company plans to “vigorously defend the transaction.” (PBS News Hour)

• In France, a heat wave fueled wildfires across that country, including two massive blazes just south of the capital, Paris. The high temperatures have hampered containment efforts for the fires, which have scorched nearly eight square miles and forced 1,000 people to flee their homes. The heat in France tempered some of the nation’s Bastille Day celebrations, with authorities canceling fireworks displays and other events. But the military parade went through Paris as planned. (PBS News Hour)

• Several New York Times reporters were subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury after the paper published stories raising security concerns about the new Air Force One. White House correspondent Liz Landers discussed questions the case is raising about freedom of the press with Will Creeley of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. (PBS News Hour)

• Law enforcement agencies in the U.S. use AI-powered cameras to scan billions of vehicles each month, often without drivers ever realizing. Supporters say the technology is a tool for solving crimes. But critics warn it’s creating a nationwide surveillance network, raising urgent questions about how much privacy Americans are willing to sacrifice in the name of safety. Paul Solman spoke to concerned residents and law enforcement agents about the technology. (PBS News Hour)

• In Ukraine thousands poured into the streets last week to protest President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to fire his popular defense minister. Mykhailo Fedorov was seen as an innovator of the country’s use of drone technology in Ukraine’s war effort. But he often clashed with the more traditional military establishment. Another part of Zelenskyy’s government reshuffle, Ukraine’s Parliament approved a new prime minister, the former head of a state energy company. Sergii Koretskyi is the third person to hold the role since Russia’s invasion more than four years ago. (PBS News Hour)

• In Gaza, health officials say several Israeli attacks last week killed at least a dozen people. A series of overnight airstrikes killed three family members in Central Gaza. That’s according to a local hospital. Israel has not commented on those strikes. The near daily attacks come despite a cease-fire that took effect last year between Israel and Hamas. In a separate strike, six police officers and a woman were killed in Gaza. Israel has said that some of them were Hamas militants, but provided no evidence. More than 1,100 people in Gaza have been killed since the cease-fire took effect, along with at least five Israeli soldiers. (PBS News Hour)

• Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers about the vetting of federal immigration officers following an Associated Press report about the ICE agent who shot and killed a Colombian man in Maine earlier last week. Close relatives and his ex-wife told the AP that David Brouillette is an Army veteran with a history of violence and serious mental health issues. They say he never should have been given a badge and a gun. DHS says the officer “feared for the public safety” after the motorist, Johan Sebastian Guerrero, attempted to flee the scene in his vehicle. DHS has not provided evidence to support that account. (PBS News Hour)

By the Numbers