Inauguration Coverage - Fox News vs. The PBS News Hour

A condensed breakdown of 12 hours of coverage of the second Inauguration of Donald J. Trump.

The day any president of the United States of America is sworn in to begin their next term should be a straightforward event for the press - aim the cameras at the ceremony and add enough commentary so the audience understands the process.

Fox News took its gaslighting to new levels as most of its highly partisan activists cosplaying as journalists created a new reality. On Fox News everyone seemed to forget that Trump refused to attend Biden’s inauguration in 2021.

They also downplayed a violent insurrection where Trump supporters tried to disrupt the certification process and keep their preferred candidate in power. No one on Fox mentioned that Trump continues to promote a false narrative that he was the real winner of the 2020 presidential election.

The folks at the “PBS News Hour” didn’t forget. Although they covered the exact same events Fox News did they also mentioned the backstory - Trump lied about the 2020 election and a violent mob smashed up the U.S. Capitol while screaming about a stolen election.

The News Hour did not present a biased view of the events it simply explained the important context and history of Trump’s political trajectory. One correspondent also provided incredible insight on the behavior and mindset of Trump supporters packed into the Capital One Arena on the day of the inauguration.

PBS also included far more discussion and commentary on the day’s events while Fox News often just included a live feed of the day’s ceremonies while praising Trump.

For this analysis I’ve grouped the comments by category not chronological order since PBS started its coverage an hour before Fox did.

I don’t break down or analyze Trump’s speeches at the event but if you’d like to see them here’s a link to the PBS broadcast of the inauguration.

Fox News

Duration: 11:30 a.m - 5:00 p.m. EST (5.5 hours)

Hosted by:

• Martha MacCallum - Fox News

• Bret Baier - Fox News

Panels: (New people were added about once an hour)

• Dana Perino - Fox News, former White House press secretary - G.W. Bush admin.

• Harold Ford Jr. - Fox News (Moderate)

• Harris Faulkner - Fox News

• Brit Hume - Fox News

• Karl Rove - Republican strategist

• Kayleigh McEnany - Fox News, former White House press sec. - Trump admin.

• Trey Gowdy - Fox News, former congressman, Republican

• Jason Miller - senior advisor for Trump 2024 campaign

• Sandra Smith - Fox News

• Jessica Tarlov - Fox News (liberal)

• Kellyanne Conway - Fox News, former senior counsel for Donald J. Trump

• Ben Domenech - editor at large Spectator World

• Charlie Hurt - Fox News (Recently added to the cast of “Fox & Friends Weekend”)

• Kevin O’Leary - Canadian businessman

• Marc Thiessen - Washington Post (conservative columnist)

• Marie Harf - political commentator, Democrat

• Sen. Markwayne Mullin - elected official - (R-OK)

Fox News correspondents

• Bill Hemmer - Capital One Arena

• Asihah Hasnie - Capitol building

• Bill Melugin - Capital One Arena

• Griff Jenkins - streets of Washington D.C.

• Chad Pergram - Fox studio, Washington D.C.

• Peter Doocy - White House correspondent

• Brooke Taylor - U.S. southern border

PBS News Hour

Duration 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (included a repeat broadcast of the inauguration ceremony)

Hosted by:

• Geoff Bennett - co-anchor, PBS News Hour

• Amna Nawaz - co-anchor, PBS News Hour

Panel:

• Kevin Madden - Republican strategist

• Tiffany Smiley - former candidate for congress, Republican

• Amy Walter - The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter

• David Brooks - The New York Times (conservative columnist)

• Jonathan Capehart - Washington Post (liberal commentator)

• Judy Woodruff - PBS News Hour

Guests:

• Sherrod Brown - former senator, Democrat

• Bob Corker - former senator, Republican

• Beverly Gage - historian, Yale University

• Mary McCord - Georgetown Law, former Acting Assistant Attorney General (DOJ)

• Rep. Ro Khanna - elected official (D-CA)

• David Wessel - Brookings Institution

• Mark Hugo Lopez - Pew Research Center

• Matt Continetti - American Enterprise Institute (conservative think tank)

PBS correspondents:

• Laura Barrón-López - White House correspondent

• Lisa Desjardins - Congressional correspondent

• Stephanie Sy - National correspondent - Capital One Arena

Pres. Donald J. Trump and Faith/The Trump Cult

During the inauguration ceremony, which was held indoors at the Capitol Rotunda due to cold weather, Rev. Franklin Graham made a statement about Donald J. Trump during the invocation.

“As President Donald J. Trump, takes the oath of office once again. We come to say thank you, O Lord our God. Father, when Donald Trump's enemies thought he was down and out, you and you alone saved his life and raised him up with strength and power by your mighty hand. We pray for President Trump that you watch over protect guide, direct him. Give him your wisdom from your throne on high. We ask that you would bless him and that our nation would be blessed through him,” said Graham.

On Fox News soon after Trump took the oath of office Bret Baier brought up a controversy.

“You know, there was that moment, that people remarked, Dana, on, social media about the swearing in, where it seemed like Justice Roberts kind of went a little bit fast, and the family wasn't really right there. So the Bible didn't get right there. And as he was sworn in, he did raise his right hand, which is required into the Constitution, to take the oath, but did not have his hand on the Bible, and it was cut off on social media,” said Baier.

Baier’s explanation didn’t make a ton of sense as Melania Trump was holding two Bibles while standing inches from her husband.

On PBS Stephanie Sy was reporting from the Capital One Arena where 20,000 Trump supporters were crammed in to watch the day’s events on large screens.

“They come from all over the country. Some of them have driven for up to 12 hours, one from as far as California. You know, when I was in the hotel room yesterday, there was a group of people that all had t shirts saying, ‘I love felons’. And they had Trump's face on their t shirts. There is a pickup truck when I arrived at the airport that had detailed Trump's face with a crowd, and it was called the Trump's incinerator. This pickup truck. So, just everywhere you look in the capital today. Again, you feel that fervor or almost religious fervor of the Trump fans,” said Sy.

Later on during the broadcast Sy made a similar remark about Trump supporters.

“And finally, just a general sense, that he can solve all of their problems. I mean, you hear that over and over again with people you speak to in his base that whatever their problem might be because of public safety, concerns about their own family and drug addiction, concern about, their financial security and inflation that they believe. And they have so much faith, that President Trump can cure all these ills. And that extends as far as veterans that believe he can bring world peace. So that's kind of the vibe here. They don't speak about specific policies. They don't have the details about tariffs. They speak in terms of vibes and the way they feel,” said Sy.

She also commented on how the crowd reacted to seeing various politicians enter the inauguration ceremony.

“This is a sporting arena, and it feels like a sporting event with all the boos and cheers and and just again, the fervent Trump fan that you feel here, some of whom have followed him since he was on on ‘The Apprentice’ and just view him as a glorious celebrity that can do no wrong,” said Sy.

Trump and His Grievances

After Trump’s official statement during his inauguration he made an unscripted impromptu speech to visitors in a room in the Capitol that was set aside for Trump supporters who couldn’t fit inside the Capitol Rotunda.

Trump’s second speech was a rambling mess where he weaved in lies about January 6th, the 2020 election along with other personal grievances. The 47th president expressed his anger about former President Biden’s decision to issue last minute pardons to his family members and others Trump has threatened with legal action.

“And I was going to talk about the things that you did today with the pardons of people that were, very, very guilty of very bad crimes like the Unselect Committee of political thugs, where they literally I mean, what they did is they destroyed and deleted all of the information, all of the hearings, practically not a thing left. They deleted all the information on Nancy Pelosi having turned down the offer of 10,000 soldiers, you wouldn't have needed 10,000. You could have had 500, and it would just up, because we married a million people that day. The people that were there you don't see any photographs of. But we have a lot of great photos,” said Trump.

On Fox News Bill Hemmer commented on Trump’s obsession with the past.

“The comments today, about January 6th and the 10,000 troops offered Nancy, to Nancy Pelosi, he mentioned here, it makes you wonder how much he wants to re-litigate the past. I think today is an indication that he's willing to do that. We'll see how far that goes,” said Hemmer.

Lisa Desjardins was the first person on the PBS News Hour to bring up how the riot at the U.S. Capitol affected Biden’s inauguration.

“Being here for the 2021 inauguration, which was just days after January 6th, as you all remember. I remember members of Congress, Democrats wearing bulletproof vests to that inauguration. I didn't sense that same level of fear or concern in this one. Of course, that does have to do what you perceive the threat to be. And at that point it was Trump supporters on January 6th,” said Lisa Desjardins

Also on PBS Jonathan Capehart also commented on Trump’s off the cuff remarks.

“To me, it's incumbent upon him to to say to those who didn't vote for him, I know you didn't vote for me, but I'm going to be your president instead. We got lots of, the usual mean rhetoric about Nancy Pelosi, about the January 6th committee Relitigating the past, about, the election of 2020. I just I don't know. I don't know what I expected today. I came into this, I don't know, sort of not even numb, but just. I've been here before. I've seen this movie before, but now having seen part two of the beginning of this movie, I don't think I'm, as comforted as I thought I would be comforted in the sense that, okay, he's been president before. He's in. He's in again. Yeah. He's got his his plans. And a lot of them are disconcerting. But maybe, you know, the wheels of Washington will work its way so that the hardest edges will be will be sanded down. I don't know about that,” Capehart.