Fox News: Operation AVOID Epstein Fury
A condensed overview of 32 hours of Fox News for the week ending 3/1/26
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.
Shows I covered on Fox News last week:
Fox & Friends
The Five
Jesse Watters Primetime - all five days plus special Saturday coverage
The Will Cain Show - Tuesday SOTU
Special Report with Bret Baier - Tuesday SOTU
Laura Ingraham - Tuesday SOTU, special Saturday coverage
Pre-show SOTU special coverage
The State of the Union address (SOTU)
Hannity - Tuesday SOTU, special Saturday coverage (2 hours)
Fox & Friends Saturday - All four hours
Fox & Friends Sunday - All four hours
Several Trump press appearances and announcements
Why Don’t They Stand?!?
After the State of the Union address (SOTU) on Tuesday the folks at Fox spent most of their time and energy ripping on Democrats.
If the speech was more successful, the network would have put more focus on the president’s message instead Fox criticized the minority party.
Fox hosts expressed their outrage that Democrats in the House chamber didn’t stand and applaud after the president expected an ovation. Trump structured his incredibly long speech around stories of everyday Americans who had either benefitted from his policies or he believed were harmed by the previous administration.
In between moments where human beings were used as props. The malignant narcissist repeatedly lied to the American public about every aspect of his administration.
The following quotes are just from one segment on The Five the day after the SOTU. The same themes were repeated across all of the programs I covered last week.
“President Trump sending the squad into a frenzy by simply asking the Democrats to stand for this,” said Kayleigh McEnany.
Producers cut to a clip from the SOTU.
“You should be ashamed of yourself not standing up,” said the president.
“And if they sit there like this, when Trump saying normal things that everybody agrees with. Everybody watching at home thinks the Democrats are crazy,” said Jesse Watters.
“And it gets worse for the Democrats. They would not even stand for this 80/20 issue,” said McEnany.
“Look nobody shows up. These people are crazy,” said Trump the night of the SOTU.
“I wish the Democrats would have taken the Fetterman approach. Suit up. Stand up. When appropriate, and if you agree with that, that’s why the Democrats stand?” said McEnany.
“He stands up and everybody claps,” said Watters.
McEnany was even angry at the press who didn’t do the bidding of the president.
“Stand and clap. I mean, presumably they’re not clapping because they don’t want to be perceived as on the left or the right. Right. But presumably you’re all on team USA if you’re an American reporter. So, stand and clap. But the press, it’s surrounding them. And I’m not saying all of them because some of them were probably following, you know, a long-standing tradition and didn’t want to stand they’re having fun. It’s contagious. It’s joyful. It’s exciting. Stand and clap.”
Dana Perino brought up the Olympic men’s hockey team.
“Democrats are torn between doing normal things like going to the state of the Union and standing for the hockey team and saying, yes, we agree that you should protect American citizens.”
The network put so much focus on the Olympic men’s hockey team that it was third top topic last week taking up 11% of airtime on the shows I covered. The word ‘hockey’ appeared 194 times in the transcripts last week.
“But even if they sit, Trump still owns them. I the Democrats are just sitting ducks,” said Watters.
Fox News vs. PBS - How the Two Networks Covered the Epstein Files
I’m often asked how Fox News is covering the Epstein File scandal. Once President Trump made it clear that he wanted the controversy to disappear Fox News dutifully ignored the story.
In the past couple of weeks, the network has produced a few segments about the deceased financier and convicted sex offender. Last week Jesse Watters tried to make the scandal all about Bill and Hillary Clinton. The word ‘Clinton’ appeared in the transcripts 125 times.
The following list are other names that were mentioned on Fox News
Larry Summers
Bill Gates
Albert Bryan Jr. (Governor of U.S. Virgin Islands)
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (Prince Andrew)
Sarah Ferguson (ex-wife of Prince Andrew)
Thorbjørn Jagland (Norway’s former prime minister)
Peter Mandelson (former U.K. Ambassador to the U.S.)
Børge Brende (former head of World Economic Forum)
One of the Rothschilds (Watters did not include the person’s name)
Tom Pritzker (cousin of J.B. Pritzker)
Melania Trump (mentioned by Jessica Tarlov)
Howard Lutnick (mentioned by Jessica Tarlov)
The PBS News Hour
On Thursday the PBS News Hour included a full segment about a story involving the DOJ withholding portions of the Epstein files that implicated President Donald J. Trump.
The News Hour co-anchor Amna Nawaz interviewed PBS justice correspondent Ali Rogin about the missing documents.
Nawaz: The Justice Department withheld and removed some of the Epstein files related to President Trump. What do we know about that?”
Rogin: Yes, this is related to notes from four interviews that the FBI conducted with one woman in 2019 after Epstein was, arrested. The DOJ did release notes from one of those interviews, in which the woman accuses Epstein of sexually assaulting her when she was as young as 13 years old. But several media outlets noted that the notes from the three other interviews were missing, and that based on other documents that they could triangulate, there was information implicating, potentially President Trump in those missing documents. In response to this, the DOJ has said that it is reviewing those files and that, quote, should any document be found to have been improperly tagged in the review process, the Department will, of course, publish it consistent with the law.
There was no mention of this story on any of the shows I covered (31 hours) from last week on Fox News.
The Department of Justice published the missing files on March 5, 2026.
Lawrence Jones Does Not Know the History Between the U.S. and Iran
On Saturday on the special episode of Fox & Friends Lawrence Jones chalked up the animosity Iran held towards the United States to the Shia radical Islamic terrorist ideology.
“Message first. First of all, all of us are praying for our country and our servicemen and women today because this is not a decision that, as the president has made very clear, he didn’t take lightly. He realized the risks associated with this. There were a lot of people that disagreed with the president taking this action within the administration, within the administration. But the president was one president at a time. And he got all the intelligence that was needed. He coordinated, and he realized that there was a threat, and they did not take the olive branch, that he gave them. And he’s been successful working with other Arab countries, other Muslim world countries, bringing them to the table because of economic prosperity. They chose that. But the hatred that is within this regime’s heart because of their, Shia radical Islamic terrorist ideology, they didn’t take that,” said Jones.
A Brief History of U.S. Relations with Iran
I’m just scratching the surface here as I don’t have the time or space to fully explore every aspect of the adversarial relationship between the United States and Iran. The first major rift came in 1953 which worsened after the Iranian revolution. This extremely brief timeline covers events from 1943 - 1988.
1943 - Before the end of World War II at a meeting that known as the Tehran Conference leaders from the U.K., U.S. and USSR agreed to formerly recognize Iran’s independence. The meeting was also held for the three nations to strategize on ways to beat the Nazis.
1953 - A CIA backed coup removed Iran’s elected prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh, founded the National Front and was overwhelmingly elected by Iran’s parliament. Once in power the prime minister policies included new taxes on the wealthy, land reforms and social security. Mosaddegh came to power after he helped pass a law in 1951, which won by a unanimous vote, to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) which later became British Petroleum.
The U.S. denied that the CIA had any involvement with the coup but later admitted its role in “Operation Ajax” in 2013. The U.S. and U.K. worked together to depose the freely elected prime minister.
1953 - After Mosaddegh was arrested he was replaced by Mohammad Réza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. The title Shah is the Persian title for monarch or king. The Shah existed in Iran before the coup but was locked in a battle with the democratically elected government. After the CIA backed coup he had absolute power and could not be removed through the democratic process. The Shah reduced the power of the press and opposition parties. He also relied on extreme surveillance through (SAVAK) the Iranian secret police which the U.S. government helped create.
Mohammad Reza Shah replaced the nationalized oil company with an international oil consortium that now shared Iran’s oil riches with American companies.
The Shah benefitted some well-connected and wealthy families during the two and half decades he ruled the country. Many Iranians distrusted him due to his close ties to the West and the widespread corruption in his government.
Many Iranians felt exploited by the U.S. and U.K. which enjoyed a cozy relationship with the Shah. The U.K. had a long history of underpaying for Iranian (Persian) oil and exploiting the nation’s resources.
The Shah and his father were both aggressively pro-Western. His father Reza Shah Pahlavi (the Shah that preceded his son Mohammad Reza Shah) banned traditional dress and mandated western clothing. This added to the distrust and resentment many Iranians had for the Phalavi dynasty.
1979 - The Iranian Revolution also referred to as The Islamic Revolution. The Shah tried to remove Ruhollah Khomeini a high ranking religious. leader knowns as an ayatollah. This backfired horribly as the Iranian people rose up in a revolution fueled by years of resentment and instilled Komeini as the first supreme leader. Iran was transformed into a brutal theocracy.
1979-1981 - Hostage Crisis - President Jimmy Cater allowed the Shah to come to the U.S. to receive cancer treatment. In retaliation Iranian militants took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 people for more than 444 days. The hostages were released on the same day that Ronald Reagan was inaugurated on January 20, 1981.
1980-1988 - The U.S. backs Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War. There was also a series of attacks on U.S. citizens and service members that were backed by Iran during this time period. The U.S. openly supported Iraq while covertly helping Iran through what as later called the Iran-Contra Affair which eroded our relationship with both countries.
October 1983 - Bombing at U.S. military barracks - 241 American service members killed. The suicide bomber that committed the attack was part of Hezbollah an Iranian backed proxy.
Iran-Contra Affair - during this time the U.S. was secretly supplying weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages being held by Hezbollah in Lebanon. Ronald Reagan used the money from those sales to illegally fund anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua.
1988 - U.S. mistakenly shoots down a commercial Iranian plane killing all 290 people on board. The U.S. government apologized for the attack and paid restitution to Iranian families.
There were more acts of violence during this time period and afterward but due to space and time I’m unable to list everything. Britannica includes a far more comprehensive timeline.
Rachel Campos-Duffy Proved Why She is on the B-Team at Fox
At approximately 11:40 p.m. EST on February 27th the United States started its military campaign against Iran.
The news of the attacks didn’t seem to hit social media until a few hours later. The producers at Fox News somehow contacted the regular cast of Fox & Friends and asked them to come in for a special Saturday episode dedicated to the war.
Chances are all three of the co-hosts, Brian Kilmeade, Lawrence Jones and Ainsley Earhardt were fast asleep when the war started considering Fox & Friends starts at 6:00 a.m. EST.
The network could have also been tipped off ahead of time by the administration.
On Sunday Rachel-Campos Duffy demonstrated why her employer felt the need to ask for the more experienced cast to work on a Saturday. The wife of the Secretary of Transportation seemed out of her depth when she spoke to Jennifer Griffin, Chief national security correspondent at the Pentagon for Fox News.
“Jennifer, there’s been a lot of people commenting at the level of Intel that the U.S., and especially Israel, had prior to this attack, that it’s really been impressive. So they’ve taken out this leadership. You talk about the leaders that are left behind based on the Intel that they have. I mean, do they think that the this B-team or I don’t maybe this is the C-team that’s left behind. Are they do they have the ability, the authority, the capacity, to do what the A-Team was, could do. I’m just curious if if that was taken into account, like, why weren’t they also taken out and, and then also this, the security, this, the special, security forces that you and Griff were talking about?” asked Campos-Duffy.
“Well, I think, first of all, Ali Larijani would be part of the A-Team. So some of the A-team did survive, and. And that is what’s dangerous in these kind of, strikes. We’ve seen with Hezbollah and elsewhere that there are usually follow on strikes and, and usually the person who moves up in the rankings, they then have the bullseye on their back,” said Griffin.
Dana Perino Brags About the Wrong Thing
On Sunday while a guest on Fox & Friends Sunday Dana Perino boasted that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two billionaire real estate developers, were master negotiators because they didn’t reveal that their discussions with Iranian officials were political theater.
“And you also have Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. I mean, they are the best poker players in the world. They sit in meetings with these guys for three hours at a time with the Iranians thinking they’re the best deal makers in the world,” said Perino.
Both men just proved to other world leaders that they cannot be trusted. Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, is one of the leaders of the Trump administration’s plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
Witkoff plays a large role in the ongoing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Neither Witkoff nor Kushner have any previous diplomatic experience.
Both Witkoff and Kushner have profited greatly off of their roles within the Trump administration. By fooling Iran with phony negotiations they both weakened our positions with any future negotiations with other countries.
Everything is Magical at the Department of War
On Saturday during the special episode of Jesse Watters Primetime former Navy SEAL Jack Carr proved he might be even less intelligent than Mr. Watters.
Watters: Jack Carr is a former Navy Seal. Jack, why is this not Iraq?
Carr: Because if you said something, quite poignant, poignant in the last segment about us having a hangover from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I thought that was very clever. It was almost like we had 20 years, our senior level leadership, drinking and waking up with that hangover, but never learning from it and taking steps to mitigate it the night before or during said drinking binge. And we can trace this all the way back to World War Two two years afterward, 1947, we changed the Department of War to the Department of Defense. And ever since then, our track record was not that great, leading all the way up to the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Now we have a Department of War, precision and language reflects precision in thought. And since we’ve changed that name to the Department of War, we have new leadership in there with on the ground experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. You and I both know many of the people in the administration that did serve downrange during that time frame, and now there’s been a different track record over this last year.
Carr honestly seems to think that chasing the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War significantly transformed the U.S. military.
The Department of Defense is still officially the Department of Defense. Under federal law only congress could rename the agency.
Stories Fox News Ignored
Every week I compare the shows I’ve watched on Fox News with five hours of the PBS News Hour. The following list are stories that PBS covered that Fox News did not. This list is truncated due to space. Source - PBS News Hour transcripts.
Longevity influencer Dr. Peter Attia is leaving his role as the CBS News contributor amid a growing fallout over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. He has not been accused of any crimes. (PBS News Hour)
In the past few weeks, the Department of Homeland Security has posted regular lists of criminals it is deporting. Despite the Trump administration’s claim that it is focused on the “worst of the worst,” data from the nonpartisan TRAC clearinghouse shows nearly 75% of ICE detainees have no criminal conviction. Lisa Desjardins spoke with a Marine veteran whose wife is in federal custody. (PBS News Hour)
Nobel laureate Richard Axel of Columbia University’s Brain Institute, says he will resign over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He has not been charged with any crimes. (PBS News Hour)
A U.S. federal judge is blocking the Justice Department from an unsupervised wholesale search of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s electronic devices. In his ruling, Magistrate Judge William Porter said that allowing officials to do so would be a restraint on her First Amendment rights and called it the equivalent of leaving the government’s fox in charge of The Washington Post’s henhouse. Federal agents seized several devices from Natanson’s Virginia home in January, which her paper called outrageous. The judge says he will review the contents of Natanson’s devices himself. (PBS News Hour)
Police in Buffalo, New York, are investigating the death of a nearly blind refugee from Myanmar days after Border Patrol agents dropped him off alone at a coffee shop miles from his home; 56-year-old Nurul Amin Shah Alam, who spoke little English, had been jailed for a year on charges later resolved with a misdemeanor plea deal. A medical examiner ruled out exposure and homicide, saying his death was health-related. But Buffalo’s Mayor Sean Ryan said the decision to leave him was unprofessional and inhumane. (PBS News Hour)
A former ICE lawyer is warning that the agency has scaled back training hours for recruits and is instructing them to violate the Constitution. Ryan Schwank says the academy where he trained cadets is “deficient, defective and broken.” He says it’s part of the administration’s effort to churn out new officers and increase arrests. Geoff Bennett spoke with Schwank and his attorney, David Kligerman. (PBS News Hour)
Pakistan’s defense minister says his country is engaged in an open war with Afghanistan after the neighboring countries exchanged attacks.
Pakistan accused the Taliban government in Afghanistan of harboring militant groups, which it says launched strikes across the border in Pakistan. For its part, Afghanistan denies enabling terrorism and says Pakistan broke a previous cease-fire agreement the two sides reached back in October. (PBS News Hour)
Israel’s high court ruled that aid groups can continue operating in the Gaza Strip. The ruling reverses an earlier government decision that barred the groups for refusing to comply with new Israeli rules. It comes as five people were killed in Israeli drone strikes on two separate police checkpoints last week. Israel says they were in response to a violation of the fragile cease-fire by Hamas. Meantime, some Palestinians from the West Bank were denied entry into Jerusalem for the second Friday of Ramadan prayers. Israeli authorities had said they would only allow up to 10,000 Palestinian worshipers and they’d tighten security across the city. (PBS News Hour)
The financial technology company Block is cutting 4,000 of its 10,000 employees as it embraces the use of artificial intelligence. The 40% cut is one of the most dramatic steps taken by a tech company directly because of the use of A.I. Investors welcomed the news, though, with Block's shares ending nearly 17% higher. (PBS News Hour)
By the Numbers
