Fox News: Pay No Attention to Trump's Falling Poll Numbers

A condensed overview of 17 hours of Fox News for the week ending 4/27/25

Apr 30, 2025

Last week as Americans grew increasingly worried about Trump’s chaotic trade deals Fox News distracted its audience with stories about dark woke Democrats, a renegade dog-walking Tesla vandal, the negative qualities of Pope Francis, the short-comings of due process and the never-ending deep state persecution of Pete Hegseth.

The segments that got the most airtime on the network focused on problems within the Democratic Party. When Fox can’t promote anything positive about the Trump administration it falls back on one of its favorite topics - Democrats are terrible.

Senator Dick Durbin’s decision to retire after serving nearly 30 years at age 80 from a solidly blue state was showcased as evidence of a party scrambling to find its footing with younger voters. Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s impending retirement, also at age 80, was spun as a sign of a huge generational rift.

If either lawmaker had announced their intentions to run for re-election I have a suspicion that the same Fox News hosts would call them out for being too old to serve another term.

Meanwhile Trump is underwater with most voters on almost every policy stance in his new administration, consumer confidence continues to drop as international trading markets react negatively to his punitive tariffs against China.

Anyone watching Fox News exclusively last week might have missed out on stories about how cuts by the Trump administration have increased food insecurity across several vulnerable regions or how a terrorist attack in Kashmir increased tensions between two nuclear powers - Pakistan and India.

Shows I covered on Fox News last week:

Fox & Friends - extra hour on Tuesday (Pete Hegseth interview)
The Five
Jesse Watters Primetime
Special Report with Bret Baier - Wednesday (Fox News poll)

What is Dark Woke?

Last Monday the New York Times published “What Is ‘Dark Woke’?” a breakdown of what the author claimed was the new strategy by the Democratic Party to seem relevant and cool.

From what I could tell ‘dark woke,” just meant some Democrats would try a slightly more combative and confrontational tone towards the Trump administration.

Fox News ran with it bringing up the term nine times in multiple segments last week.

“What's this big idea? They call it dark woke. It's basically like just being woke. But curse like Trump. Democrats say Tampon (Tim Walz) and Crockett are perfect. Dark woke, and the rest of the party should be like them,” said Jesse Watters on Jesse Watters Primetime on Tuesday.

Judge Jeanine Pirro also had strong feeling about it the same day on “The Five.”

“The party tries to rebrand themselves as dark woke . . . and going dark woke is all the rage among Democrats . . . and here's more dark woke nonsense . . . Okay, Jesse, the New York Times says the dark woke is the way for the Dems to get their groove back,” said Pirro.

“Dark woke. Sounds like a new, like a new coffee brand. At the Starbucks menu,” said Greg Gutfeld.

The next morning on “Fox & Friends,” Brian Kilmeade brought it up.

“They're talking about going, dark woke.”

Then on Friday guest host Rosanna Scotto also mentioned it.

“Well, it looks like the Democrats are starting with a new approach. I think they're calling it the dark woke.”

Trump is Tanking in the Polls

The story that everyone on the network seemed determined to bury was a Fox News poll that showed Trump’s declining approval ratings for nearly every aspect of his new administration.

On Wednesday Jessica Tarlov managed to work it into a discussion on “The Five.”

“Bret Baier had a beautiful graphic. I might frame it on my wall that had the approval ratings for the last six presidents. For the first 100 days, Donald Trump is now the lowest. He beat himself, so he was at 45% in the first hundred days of Trump 1.0, and now he's at 44%. His economic ratings have gone down by 20%. The American public don't trust him on cost of living, inflation, all the things he was hired to do,” said Tarlov.

Tarlov was referencing a clip from “Special Report with Bret Baier,” that had aired immediately before “The Five” was broadcast.

“You look at our new Fox News poll at 100 days job approval compared to other presidents there. You see the president at 44%. And you see his first term at 45% at this mark, the 100-day mark. We have other new polls that are revealing, some concerns about the economy,” said Baier.

Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich included more for the same Fox News poll.

“New Fox polls show nearly three quarters of voters believe tariffs will drive up the cost of products. A record 55% think tariffs hurt the economy and a plurality say they hurt U.S. jobs. 55% say the economy is getting worse for their family, and that Trump's policies are hurting by a 22-point margin.”

Even on the Fox News website the network was attempted to distract its readers from the contents of the poll. The caption on the cover video for the article read, “Trump reveals plans for two 100-foot flagpoles outside the White House to fly American flags.”

The only winning issue for Trump was border security as 55% of Americans approved of how he was handling it. Trump was underwater on every other issue including immigration.

A Dog Walking Tesla Terrorist

On Wednesday the folks on “Fox & Friends” were extremely upset that a man who keyed some cars while walking his dog wasn’t facing criminal charges. Keying a car refers to the act of deliberately scratching or damaging a car's exterior with a sharp object, usually a key.

Keying can cause minor damage to the exterior of a vehicle that could be quite costly to repair depending on make and model of the automobile. Unlike the acts of arson keying would not cause any further damage to other cars or put anyone’s life or safety in jeopardy.

Steve Doocy opened the segment.

“There's a guy who was arrested, 33-year-old Dylan Adams. He caused an alleged $20,000 worth of damage to at least six Teslas. He would be going out, and he would be walking his dog, and he would key a car. So anyway, the cops caught him, and they they presented the evidence to the D.A.. And you know what the D.A. decided? They decided that they're not going to seek criminal charges. They're going to do pre-charge diversion instead. Which is very unsatisfactory to a lot of people who would like to see something else, said Doocy.

Ainsley Earhardt added more information.

“Here's what the county attorney's office said. Our main priorities are to secure restitution for the victims and hold Mr. Adams accountable. As a result, we will file for pre-charge diversion to best facilitate both of these goals. This is an approach taken in many property crime crime cases, and helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution, as well as reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses. Criminal prosecution remains a possibility. Should unlawful behavior continue.”

Brian Kilmeade wrapped it up.

“So, the question is, is this time for the federal government to step in again? Because remember, Pam Bondi said this is going to be stopped. There's going to be maximum penalties, to pay for this act because it was happening across the country, happening in Europe too, happening in Canada. But we're in control here. So, the question is will it? There's no there's no push back. This guy's a hero in the left-wing community. And now he doesn't have any hell to pay. That is a green light for other people who have a Tesla. Many of which are Democrats, by the way. Now, all of a sudden, they can't park in a garage. They shouldn't feel secure in a street. You're a 19-year-old who's in college with the Tesla. Now all of a sudden, you got to worry about her welfare,” said Kilmeade.

The court ordered Adams to pay for $20,000 worth of damage to multiple Tesla owners. He was definitely facing consequences for his actions.

This is the same network that didn’t seem to have much of a problem with January 6th rioters who beat cops and planned an armed insurrection getting full pardons and commutations from President Donald J. Trump.

Pete Hegseth was in Hot Water Again

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth faced criticism for allegedly including his wife in another group chat on the Signal app that included sensitive military information and attack plans.

On Tuesday Fox News invited him on “Fox & Friends” where Brian Kilmeade interviewed him for over 13 minutes - a staggeringly long segment for morning television.

Hegseth opened the segment with a blatant lie when he spoke about the scandal that’s become known as ‘Signalgate’.

“At the beginning, it was left wing reporters from the Atlantic who got ahold of it and then wanted, wanted to create a problem for the press,” said Hegeth.

Signalgate involved National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally including Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of “The Atlantic,” in a group chat with top military and intelligence officials. During the chat Hegseth revealed specific attack plans surrounding airstrikes targeting Houthi militants in Yemen.

The rest of what Hegseth discussed with Kilmeade was largely meaningless.

“We're focused on recruiting, and rooting out DEI, on securing our southwest border, and on the president's agenda. And it's going very well at the Pentagon, and I'm proud,” said Hegseth.

“Do you think you take this job, you come in with war experience and or your great background? Do you think there's a lot of people don't want you there, and there's some type of steep, deep state forces that want to make sure you don't stay there?” asked Kilmeade.

“Well, they've come after me from day one, just like they've come after President Trump. I mean, I've gotten a fraction of what President Trump got in that first term. What he's endured is superhuman. It's not hard for me to do this job. I know exactly why I'm here to bring warfighting and the warfighting ethos back to the Pentagon, to rip out the insidious ideologies and not compromise and not back down, to bring in new press voices into the Pentagon, which we've done,” said Hegseth.

How PBS Covered the Same Scandal

Lisa Desjardins, the congressional correspondent, briefly laid out the details.

“Let's start with last Friday. Now, on that day, that is when four top Pentagon staffers in Hegseth’s inner circle were suddenly out. That includes the top staffer his chief of staff there, who resigned from that job, as Politico reported, and three others who were just below that chief of staff level. All have known him a long time, all accused in the media of leaking and were fired. Next Sunday, The New York Times reported, and PBS has confirmed that he had used a second Signal chat in which he messaged sensitive information about that Yemen attack. And per our source, he included in that chat his wife that is that's an obviously a major breach of security and secrecy protocols. Then also yesterday Hegseth’s former top communications person who she spokesperson John Ullyot wrote an op-ed in Politico saying he needed to go. Now, if you read that op-ed, you saw that Ullyot wrote that the Pentagon is no longer focused on war-fighting, but on endless drama and chaos. Ullyot is a marine veteran, but he's also a D.C. communications veteran. So, him writing that op-ed is highly unusual,” said Desjardins.

Producers then included a clip of Hegseth speaking to reporters during the White House Easter egg roll that included his claim that his critics remained anonymous.

“And anonymous smears from disgruntled former employees on old news doesn't matter,” said Hegseth.

“But it was not anonymous, as we just reported his former communications chief and on three others have raised questions about this,” said Desjardins.

The Cast of ‘The Five’ on Due Process

The Trump administration’s attempts to circumvent due process to expedite the removal and decoration of undocumented immigrants was a major story last week.

On Monday cast of “The Five” did their best to argue that non-citizens should not have the chance to defend themselves or argue their cases in court.

Due process generally means following fair legal procedures and ensuring everyone is treated fairly by the government when their life, liberty, or property is at stake.

“We know that there was an illegal immigrant problem during the Biden years and they all came in. And now the question is, okay, well, one by one, they have to have all of these hearings. I think that then that means that there should we just be stuck with them forever? . . . It's not like in the last decade we had deported about 350,000 people a year. So, at that rate, it would take 28 years just to get the illegal immigrants that Biden let in.” asked Dana Perino.

“You want everybody. You brought them all in, and now you want to do it one by one. There was a lot of mind-reading in there. Nobody's freaking out about this except the Democrats,” said Greg Gutfeld.

“Well, it’s funny that you're into due process now after bringing us the MeToo movement, cancel culture and the Trump trials, you can't break into the country and ignore the process of coming here. And then what a process to leave. You cannot cut the line to come here and then ask to be put in a line to go home. If you guys are going to be the defense attorneys for every criminal gang banger in America, after you've allowed the gangs to invade and now say all of them need lawyers, it's going to be an eternity. . . and the slippery slope argument is this the slippery slope you've ever seen? If they deported MS-13 terrorists, you're next. Oh, the Puerto Ricans. Anybody with a tan just to go. Are you next? No one believes that this is the dictator hoax all over again. And you lost on that the last time,” said Jesse Watters.

Leave it to Rachel Campos-Duffy to Trash Pope Francis

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday April 21, 2025. Most of the coverage surrounding his death and funeral arrangements were handled with respect and reverence by Fox News.

The only exception was a brief appearance by Rachel Campos-Duffy, a former MTV reality star and one of the co-hosts of “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

For some reason Fox News treated her as if she was an expert on Catholicism despite inviting several high-ranking Catholic clergy members and historians who also discussed his life and influence.

“Rachel, your thoughts, one of the things that pope, this pope was supposed to do is bring people back to the church by being more open to more progressive views. Did that work?” asked Brian Kilmeade.

“No, it didn't. And I think people you're starting to see, by the way, a lot of conversion to Catholicism. But I would say it was in spite of Pope Francis, leadership of the Catholic Church. Not because of it. He has been controversial on a lot of levels. He's a Jesuit. And all of that means, you know, the sort of liberal way of thinking. And he focused a lot on social issues. He focused on the climate. He focused he was he was also, about liberalizing the way Catholics look at divorce. He said we should he he approved. Blessings on same sex couples. And a lot of other Catholics were like, I wish he was more focused on moral teachings. I wish he was more focused on the persecution of Christians . . .So, there's a lot of controversy around him. But the church continues. Look, a lot of conservative Catholics did not appreciate this pope. Let's just be really frank and honest here on Fox and Friends. They do not appreciate him, but they always respected the office of the of the papacy of the Pope. The fact that he is, you know, in this long, unbroken chain, all the way up to Saint Peter himself. And of course, the church continues . . .no doubt about that. But, again, the church is, is at a crossroads. I mean, it's at a point where, you know, we're seeing, so many people, especially during Covid you guys was one of the parts that, for me was really the most disappointing with Pope Francis during Covid, when so many of us were isolated. We wanted our church to say to open its doors, and instead it followed the line of the WEF (World Economic Forum) and closed its doors and was not pastoring its people. During that time, that was a huge disappointment,” said Campos-Duffy.

According to a survey by Pew Research 75% of U.S. Catholics viewed Pope Francis favorably in 2024. He was also viewed more positively than his immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, but less positively than Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

In 2023 the Catholic News Agency reported a 10% increase in the size of the church during Pope Francis’ papacy keeping pace with and even exceeding overall world population growth.

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. Source - PBS News Hour transcripts. This list has been slightly truncated for space.

In the Middle East, U.S. airstrikes in Yemen's capital city killed at least 12 people and wounded 30 more. It is the latest in a monthlong campaign of strikes against Houthi rebels for their attacks on ships in the Red Sea and against Israel. (PBS News Hour)
The Supreme Court heard the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act. At issue is the constitutionality of a task force that recommends what preventive care treatments should be covered by private insurance at no cost. It could have impacts on everything from cancer screening to HIV-prevention medicine to counseling for expectant mothers. (PBS News Hour)
A federal jury in Manhattan found The New York Times did not libel former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The verdict came in a retrial of Palin's case, where she alleged that a 2017 Times editorial damaged her reputation by implying her political action committee helped to incite the deadly mass shooting in Arizona that severely wounded former Representative Gabby Giffords. The newspaper admitted the mistake and had issued a correction within hours. (PBS News Hour)
Three more federal prosecutors who worked on the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams have resigned. Adams had agreed to cooperate with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, which led to the dismissal of his criminal case. At least 10 federal prosecutors in Manhattan and Washington have now resigned over that case being dropped. (PBS News Hour)
A judge paused the Department of Education's push to cut K-12 public school funding over diversity initiatives. (PBS News Hour)
As part of the cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Trump administration reportedly fired the staff that runs the Low-Income Home Energy Program. Congress already approved funds for the program but with the staff gone, the allocated money is frozen. (PBS News Hour)
Tensions are rising between India and Pakistan following an attack in the disputed territory of Kashmir that left 26 people dead. India blames Pakistan for that massacre and today revoked visas for Pakistani nationals. It also closed a main border crossing between the countries. Pakistan retaliated by revoking Indian visas, closing its airspace to Indian planes, and suspending all trade with its neighbor. (PBS News Hour)
Former President of South Korea Moon Jae-in has been indicted for bribery. Prosecutors alleged that Moon took bribes totaling more than $150,000 from an airline executive who gave Moon's former son-in-law a high-paying job, even though he had no industry experience. Moon is the fifth South Korean leader in the last 20 years to be indicted, tried, jailed, or accused of crimes while serving or after leaving office. (PBS News Hour)
The World Food Programme says it has delivered the last of its food in Gaza and warned the kitchens it has been supporting would run out of food in days. Executive Director Cindy McCain said a lack of funding has forced WFP to cut 30% of its staff as it faces unprecedented challenges in feeding the hungry in Haiti. (PBS News Hour)
In New York, former Representative George Santos has been sentenced to more than seven years behind bars. He pleaded guilty last summer to wire fraud and identity theft. Santos arrived in federal court and reportedly sobbed as the judge handed down his punishment. It caps off a dramatic saga for the disgraced Republican who defrauded donors and fabricated his life story during his 2022 run for Congress. (PBS News Hour)