Fox News: The Iowa Caucus - Time To Double Down on Trump
A condensed breakdown the Fox News Iowa caucus coverage - 1/15/24
For months Fox News has promoted and hyped up the 2024 presidential primary race as if it was competitive while also slavishly focusing on Trump to feed his cultish base. The network has been trapped in a dysfunctional relationship with the former president, one it just can’t seem to quit.
On one hand it appeared some folks at the network really wanted to move past Trump. Steve Doocy had several moments of pushback on “Fox & Friends,” where he openly criticized the erratic wannabe despot or pointed out the seriousness of his many legal problems.
The network also seemed to get excited about the other candidates.
Early on in the race Brian Kilmeade threw an actual softball to Gov. Ron DeSantis during a praise-filled interview. Surprisingly political novice Vivek Ramaswamy had the most guest appearances of any of the presidential hopefuls in the shows I covered last year.
Chris Christie also was a frequent guest on the network even though he trashed Trump at length every time a lavalier microphone was clipped to his lapel.
At the same time Fox News would forgo commercial breaks for Trump’s many drama-filled incidents from the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago to his four criminal indictments. Fox kept backing Trump even though the lies he promoted about the last presidential election ultimately cost the network $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.
Fox News would spend hours featuring footage of Trump’s plane leaving Florida then follow his motorcade as it would snake through the streets of Georgia or Manhattan for any number of court appearances. The former president’s every movement was documented even though none of it was newsworthy or relevant.
What exactly did Fox viewers learn from watching a plane sit on a runway?
On the night of the first primary contest, it was obvious that Trump had crushed his rivals an hour and a half before the network expected the results to come in. This game of going back and forth with a man at least half the country hated was over - Fox was in it to win it now.
Since Fox didn’t have nail biting numbers to obsess over it switched to polling that showed immigration topping the list of concerns for Iowa Republicans. Fox News will likely feature a new-miles long migrant caravan snaking through Mexico at least once a week now.
Although the next primary contest is in New Hampshire next week I expect a strong pivot in the network to put everything it has behind the narcissistic, erratic, serial liar who echoes Adolph Hitler at his rallies and praises dictators.
This is just the beginning.
Fox News Coverage - Iowa Caucus - 10:00 p.m. EST
Moderators:
Martha MacCallum - Fox News
Bret Baier - Fox News
Duration - 1 hour 40 minutes (minus commercial breaks)
Fox correspondents:
Rich Edson - Fox News (Des Moines)
Aishah Hasnie - Fox. News (Nikki Haley HQ)
Bill Hemmer - Fox News (election map)
Sandra Smith - Fox News (voter analysis survey)
Bill Melugin - Fox News (DeSantis HQ)
Pete Hegseth Fox News (caucus location - Herbert Hoover Elementary School)
The Associated Press had already called the Iowa caucus for Donald J. Trump about an hour and 30 minutes before this broadcast even started so unlike most election night specials this one began with no drama or tension.
The most exciting new tool of the night was the ‘Fox News Voter Analysis’ which was referenced heavily throughout the broadcast.
First panel:
Dana Perino - Fox News
Brit Hume - Fox News
Harold Ford Jr. - Fox News (moderate)
Brit Hume reminded everyone that most GOP presidential nominees do not actually win the Hawkeye state.
“Well, let's not forget the second place has led to a lot of people winning the nomination in Iowa afternoon after Iowa finished second in Iowa. It's worth something. There are a lot of places where it wouldn't be in in the coming races. Then the future won't be as much. But out here, if you win second, you survive. You go on. And who knows, you might win a nomination. A number of second place finishers have,” said Hume.
Dana Perino went on an odd tangent that undermined a lot of the themes Fox News has pushed for months.
“You do have to think about how Iowa as a state has been doing. They have a very popular governor. The economy is pretty good. The agriculture sector doing very well. Of course, that's super important here. Unemployment rate very low. There are concerns, if you look at that voter analysis are on a national level and they're worry about the country as a whole,” said Perino.
I guess everything is terrible except in Iowa.
Second panel:
Kellyanne Conway - Fox News, former senior counsel for Donald J. Trump
Karl Rove - Republican consultant, advisor for President George W. Bush
When Bret Baier asked Kelly Conway what she thought about Nikki Haley’s chances with moderates and independents Conway snapped back.
“Sure. And underperforming among Republicans and the so-called MAGA group, non-college educated evangelicals. Look, this is no way to win a Republican nomination,” said Conway.
Third panel:
Laura Ingraham - Fox News
Ingraham seemed especially delighted that Trump performed as well as he did.
“This is unbelievable. And this is after how many indictments? Right? I mean, this is like indictment after indictment after indictment,” said Ingraham.
The producers then cut to Trump’s acceptance speech. After the entire song “God Bless the U.S.A.,” was blasted a full volume at Trump campaign headquarters the crowd started chanting “Trump, Trump, Trump…”
The network included the entire 22-minute speech.
Fourth panel:
Dana Perino - Fox News
Brit Hume - Fox News
Harold Ford Jr. - Fox News (moderate)
The producers abruptly cut to Ramaswamy announcing that he was suspending his campaign. Fox News cut back to their special a few minutes after he started speaking.
When Baier asked Harold Ford Jr., a moderate host on “The Five,” what he thought of Trump’s performance that night Ford praised the former president at length.
“I was shocked how measured he wasn't how conciliatory was tonight. He talked about Vivek Ramaswamy like he knew what was going to happen in the called the DeSantis and Nikki Haley by their first names. . .That's a great thing. And finally, he touched on the three issues that are, I think, most prominent in people's minds the border, Ukraine, Israel and our standing is with China. And he talked about whether you agree with him or not. And I take some quarrel with some of the things he said. He sounded, measured and sounded presidential,” said Ford.
Ford is considered a liberal on “The Five,” which is a bit outrageous as he usually agrees with co-hosts on just about any subject.
After a brief discussion about Trump’s speech the producers cut to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement. DeSantis at least got his entire statement on air as it was only three and a half minutes long.
When Fox cut back to their Iowa stage Brit Hume openly mocked the Florida governor.
“Kind of highfalutin with all of the rhetoric about the Civil War and earlier presidents and the beaches of Normandy and all the rest of it, for a guy who could only get 20% after betting the whole campaign on the Iowa caucuses,”
The producers then transitioned back to Bill Hemmer at the election map board which Baier simply called “Bill’s board.” Hemmer desperately tried to make a map that was dominated by Trump look more exciting than it was.
Fox then cut to Nikki Haley’s speech to her supporters which was also unceremoniously cut off before she was finished.
Fifth panel:
Katie Pavlich - Fox News
Trey Gowdy - Fox News, former congressman
Jessica Tarlov - Fox News (liberal)
Marc Thiessen - Washington Post, former speechwriter for Pres. George W. Bush
Katie Pavlich seemed annoyed that they were even discussing Haley or DeSantis.
“If you add tonight DeSantis and Haley together, they're still under Trump by ten points,” said Pavlich.
Bret Baier added, “and then if you add Vivek Ramaswamy to Trump, it enhances his number.”
Pavlich continued to tear into the second and third place winners.
“They spent $100 million here in Iowa. Republicans. Joe Biden raked in $100 million in the last quarter and he’s not campaigning,” said Pavlich.
Marc Thiessen was one of the few guests who tried to downplay Trump’s win.
“But it's a country of 332 million people. This is 100,000 people. Let's see what happens in New Hampshire. This isn't over yet,” said Thiessen
Jessica Tarlov pointed out the obvious.
“Can I just add something really quickly about the conciliatory tone, which obviously was notable. But he's not going to New Hampshire tomorrow. He's going back to New York to sit in a courtroom. It's that E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. And there are plenty of people who are paying attention to his demeanor in the courtroom and these press conferences that he's having and whether that confirms known for the past few years. That's my assumption. And so we'll look back at this speech and think, you know, he had a nice night, but this is the guy who he really is,” said Tarlov.
Final panel:
Kellyanne Conway - Fox News, former senior counsel for Donald J. Trump
Karl Rove - Republican consultant, advisor for President George W. Bush
Juan Williams - Fox News (liberal)
Kellyann Conway rounded off the night by saying that DeSantis was whining rather than winning.
“I think he's been complaining a little too much. My point about whining or winning everybody saw him as a big winner out of Florida, rightfully so. But you then can't complain about Fox News's coverage and the polls are wrong. And he had some comment yesterday. Also, you have to project strength. And I think strength is the most important thing coming out of this,” said Conway.
PBS NewsHour Coverage - Iowa Caucus - 11:00 p.m. EST
Moderators:
Geoff Bennett - PBS NewsHour, co-anchor
Amna Nawaz - PBS NewsHour, co-anchor
Duration - 26 minutes
PBS Correspondent
Lisa Desjardins - PBS NewsHour (DeSantis HQ)
Panel:
David Brooks - NY Times
Jonathan Capeheart - Washington Post
Amy Walter - Cook Political Report with Amy Walter
Kevin Madden - Republican Strategist, Mitt Romney 2012 campaign
The broadcast started with Bennett summing up the night.
“Former President Donald Trump has won a decisive victory in what is the first official contest of the year to determine the Republican nominee for president. Looking at the results in so far, he is claiming 51% of the vote. And the story tonight is Donald Trump's absolute dominance over his top two rivals.”
Since it was later in the evening there was far less speculation about the results.
Desjardins reporting from DeSantis campaign headquarters pointed the largest controversy of the caucus.
“The big topic of conversation here tonight is that call by the Associated Press that happened even as I was reporting to you before many caucus goers had begun to vote. I spoke to some DeSantis supporters in the caucus site that I was at who said they saw that former President Trump had been declared the winner before they had voted, that they were not only frustrated by that, but they felt that their vote had been discounted, that their vote was worthless even before they counted counted it.”
Amna Nawaz asked Jonathan Capehart what he thought about the fact that nearly half of Iowa caucus voters selected another candidate.
“Look, 51% is a very strong number. Right. But here's the other argument, is that that's close to half the voters who did not say that they wanted him to be their nominee, they wanted something other than Donald Trump. Is there a lane there, Jonathan?”
“I don't know. I don't know. And you know why I say that? Because I come back to another number in in the AP data that is startling, 62% of those surveyed say that President Biden is not the legitimate president. Right. I do. I'm trying to I'm trying to square that. I really am. Because, I mean, is this 62% just peculiar to Iowa, which is not representative of the country as a whole? Or is that a number that as we go from primary to primary to primary holds true? And then what does that say? Not just about the Republican Party, but about that country and the country's appetite for democracy?” said Capehart.
Kevin Madden, the Republican strategist, commented Haley and DeSantis fought with each other more than they criticized Trump.
“I think Trump continues to benefit from the dueling strategies of his opponents and the fact that they cannot find a path towards consolidation. And they can't find a way to take them on directly and instead they're taking each other on, It's just to his benefit.”
Amy Walter summed up the night better than anyone.
“This is this is Donald Trump's party. I think Nikki Haley was running as the old party. Ron DeSantis was trying to be a new version of Trump. That didn't work very well. One of the favorite quotes I got from a Republican strategist about this, that DeSantis strategy was for voters who want Batman. They want Batman. They do not want Robin. And he was offering Robin and Haley is offering that old style Republican ism that just is no longer in vogue.”
PBS did not feature any of the speeches by the Republican candidates.
Coming up…
I should have a podcast version of this sometime on Wednesday. This week has been intense to say the least. Thank you for your support.
Ingraham is happy that 91 indictments didn’t stop tfg?