The Propaganda Machine's Selective Outrage Over Conspiracy Theories

A condensed overview of 22 hours of Fox News for the week ending 7/12/26

Jul 16, 2026

Last week on Fox News guests and hosts alike seemed to all come up with the exact same conspiracy theory about the Democratic Party and control of the U.S. Senate.

According to the Fox News narrative party leaders decided to pick a deeply flawed yet charismatic blue collar oyster farmer, Graham Platner, to run for the U.S. Senate in Maine. The second he started to dip in the polls the Democratic machine convinced one of his ex-girlfriends to tell the press that Graham sexually assaulted her.

When Platner dropped out of the race the Democratic establishment would replace him with their preferred candidate - someone less radical and more likely to defeat Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who has represented Maine in the U.S. Senate for over 29 years.

Did this theory make any sense? No, but that wasn’t going to stop anyone at Fox from promoting it. Platner’s many shortcomings and disastrous personal life was somehow all part of the master plan to disenfranchise voters and sneak in a new candidate at the last minute to run against a well-funded incumbent.

Also last week as more evidence came out during the preliminary hearing for the suspect in the murder of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk the network lambasted opportunistic un-named podcasters and pundits who knowingly promoted false stories about his death.

So, Fox News, the same network that pushed elaborate fabrications about the 2020 election, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden family, the attack on the Capitol on January 6th, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, undocumented immigrants, and the World Economic Forum was suddenly outraged about conspiracy theories.

All irony is dead on Fox News.

Other major stories on the network last week included:

The new red scare - the communist takeover of the United States
Trump’s intervention into a red card call at the World Cup
The war in Iran (the network’s least favorite subject)

Fox Shows I covered last week:

Fox & Friends
The Five
Jesse Watters Primetime
Hannity
The Ingraham Angle - Tuesday and Wednesday
Trump’s many press appearances

Conspiracy Theories are Amazing When They are About Democrats

Last week, Jenny Racicot, an ex-girlfriend of Graham Platner, told POLITICO that he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago.

Racicot previously spoke with The New York Times about Platner but had only included details of the alleged sexual assault ‘off the record.” She was quoted by the News York Times as describing his behavior as ‘reckless’ and ‘unsettling.’

Immediately after the alleged attack Racicot spoke to her therapist and later shared details about what happened with Platner with a new boyfriend in 2022 and later an acquaintance in 2023.

She also saved private Facebook messages warning the acquaintance about getting involved with Platner. In the exchange Racicot implied that Platner sexually assaulted her.

Last week she shared her story with Jack Tapper at CNN where she came across as a highly credible person with receipts to back up her account. Racicot also said she shared the same politics as Platner which was one reason she didn’t come forward sooner.

Platner denied any wrongdoing but within a few days of the new accusations against him decided to drop his candidacy for U.S. Senate in Maine.

This was the number one story on the shows I covered on Fox News last week taking up about 27% of programming.

In the past few weeks Fox News already spent an inordinate amount of time on Platner’s many liabilities - the Nazi tattoo on his chest, sexting scandals outside his marriage, profiles on sketchy dating websites, as well as numerous accounts of his erratic and allegedly abusive behavior towards women.

Fox News didn’t just report on the alleged sexual assault they crafted a conspiracy involving the Democratic Party.

On Monday on Jesse Watters Primetime, Kevin McCarthy, former Speaker of the House, was the first person on the network to make involve the Democratic Party in Platner’s disastrous personal behavior.

“His poll numbers were dropping. They only had to July 13th to replace if this had happened past July 13th. They couldn’t take them off the ballot. And it seems as though they should have known with all the backdrop.”

“So I want to ask you about this. It smells highly coordinated, as you said,” said guest host Charlie Hurt.

Later the same night on Hannity Republican strategist Erin McQuire also said the accusations against Platner were somehow coordinated by the Democratic Party.

“And now that they are seeing the polling numbers soften, they are seeing Susan Collins run, as she always does as a candidate for Maine. They’re saying, oh, we’re about to lose again power is all we care about. So we’re going to try to push Graham Platter out.”

The next day on The Five Dana Perino made the same claim.

“It’s because the recent polling shows that Graham Platner was going to lose to Susan Collins. And they thought, wow, we only have two weeks to figure this out. So we I guess that we had better do that.”

Radio host Dana Loesch made the same accusation that night on Jesse Watters Primetime.

“They were all in on him until they started seeing some of the most recent polling. According to two new New York Times Siena News poll, that came out and was looking at, voters in Maine, and it showed that he’s slipping significantly amongst working class voters.”

On Wednesday Joe Concha, a Fox News contributor, also repeated the exact same talking point.

“Exactly, Charlie. We’ve seen this movie before, right? A Democratic candidate dropped in the polls. In this case, the Nazi tattoo guy. Now he’s trailing in most surveys to Republican Susan Collins. Democrats panic. That deadline you talked about July 13th of either being stuck with Plattner or replacing him with a candidate, that party leader decide and not the actual, you know, public through voting.”

Conspiracy Theories are Bad When they Are About Charlie Kirk

Last week Fox News included exhaustive coverage of a preliminary hearing surrounding the assassination of Charlie Kirk. As the folks at Fox News laid out the evidence that was presented to the court they complained about predatory podcasters who were profiting from false stories about Kirk’s murder.

On Thursday on Fox & Friends Brian Kilmeade spoke about Donald Trump Jr.’s concern for the truth about Kirk’s murder.

“Meanwhile, Don Jr, was, in this was in the courtroom and he was escorted Erica Kirk, day one and heard enough. He said this should kill off what he’s heard so far. Should kill off all the conspiracy theories.” said Kilmeade.

Producers included a brief statement the president’s oldest son made about the trial. It was repeated several times across multiple programs last week.

Kilmeade’s co-host Emily Compango also complained about the conspiracy theorist.

“This is fueling the fans of conspiracy theories. Just let it go. And the defense is arguing, you know, again, they’re arguing things that have a place in trial, which they are not there yet. So they say, well, the defendant has a right to face the accuser, etc.. That doesn’t even come into play until later,” said Compango.

Kilmeade also chimed in.

“Podcasters who sit there and loving it because they get their clicks making up stuff that is, anyone paying attention knows they’re being taken aback.”

Lawrence Jones thought it might be affecting the trial.

“Well, see, that’s my problem with this whole thing is because although the defense is not making those arguments that the podcasters are making. They’re using as leverage in this case. They keep asking questions that hint hint at that.”

Later during the same program, Miranda Devine, a journalist who wrote a book about unproven crimes discovered in Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop had strong words about conspiracy theorists.

“At the I think the good thing that’s come out of this preliminary hearing so far is that it really makes the conspiracy theorists look like idiots, because there are.”

On Friday Lawrence Jones brought it up again on Fox & Friends.

“Some of the conspiracies. I’ve tried to track down those leads that they’re talking about these red herrings, but none of it matches the evidence that,” said Jones.

He was cut off by Brian Kilmeade,

“You mean that Erika was involved, that Israel was involved. Egypt was involved, that Erika’s boyfriend was involved. And you mean all those ridiculous conspiracy theories?”

Most of the conspiracy theories about Charlie Kirk’s murder are fueled by folks further to the right of Fox News. Candace Owens, a popular podcaster and virulent antisemite has been one of the major sources of disinformation about Kirk’s death.

Fox News has criticized her before without naming her.

Fox News Said A Bunch of Crazy Things about the World Cup

President Trump’s interference with a game involving the U.S. soccer team was a major story last week on Fox News. The president was disappointed that a star player, Folarin Balogun, was issued a red card in a game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The penalty would have made him ineligible to play in a Round of 16 match against Belgium. President Trump personally contacted FIFA President Gianni Infantino to request a review of the suspension.

FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee intervened by applying Article 27, which deferred the automatic one-game ban and placed him on a one-year probation.

Trump’s actions drew massive international criticism as it appeared that the president of a host country was putting his thumb on the scale to give an unfair advantage to his country’s team.

Belgium ended up trouncing the U.S. in Round 16 eliminating the U.S. team from the World Cup entirely.

Fox News reacted by downplaying the controversy and trashing Europe. On Tuesday Benny Johnson made several alarming comments about the incident on Jesse Watters Primetime.

“We could do a trade, man. We’re talking sports here, Charlie. We could just swap. We could swap these miserable lives. They can go live in their socialist utopias in Europe with no ice and no air conditioning. And they’re the glorious free health care that we paid for with our military budget. And we can swap them. This has been an incredible propaganda win for Trump and the American people. . . .The incredible result of having the World Cup here and the people of Europe saying, we love it here in America. They have this thing called ranch dressing. They have this thing called free refills. It’s a paradise. Belgium. . . . You’re not going to believe this has won zero Super Bowls. And Belgium has won zero World Series and I think that’s really important for people to take away. . . And also I would like to propose a rule for FIFA. Nobody asked me, but I think this should be something that is standard. If if America has had to invade your country to liberate you in the last hundred years, then we should get a one goal advantage,” said Johnson.

The next day Laura Ingraham also seemed to take personal offense to the fact that the United States was no longer part of the competition.

“But Europe is dominating the game. But America still leads where it actually matters. Innovation ie military power, our economy, energy production, our GDP and of course now space exploration,” said Ingraham.

Dan Dakich of Outkick declared that Trump would have been called racist if he hadn’t stepped in to try to help Folarin Balogun.

“You know the guy, Laura, that he helped Folarin Balogun is Black. Had he not helped Folarin Balogun? I’m going here. He would have been considered racist for not helping a Black player.”

No one on Fox News mentioned that Folarin Balogun was only able to play for the United States team due to birthright citizenship. Balogun was born in Brooklyn, New York after his Nigerian mother was told she was too pregnant to board a flight back to Africa.

War with Iran - Boots on the Ground?

Tuesday - July 7, 2026

On Tuesday the U.S. struck military targets in Iran after ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. All of the evening shows included a short segment that included basic facts about the attacks.

The Five - one and a half minutes
The Ingraham Angle - one minute
Jesse Watters Primetime - one minute
Hannity - two minute segment

Wednesday - July 8, 2026

Things changed a bit on Wednesday as fighting continued

The Five - 10-minute segment with commentary. The full panel discussed the conflict at length
“And so the red line seems to be approaching, which is what the one thing nobody wants is boots on the ground. But I don’t see how you get the straights open. Rid of the IRGC and the nuclear material secreted in a way that we can definitely say it’s all out of there, but without putting eyes on, I just don’t see it,” said Paul Mauro, an attoney and retired NYPD inspector.
The Ingraham Angle - Lucas Tomlinson, a Fox News correspondent, briefly discussed the military strikes in Iran for about 30 seconds before transitioning to a brief segment about Trump at the NATO Summit.
Jesse Watters Primetime - Guest host Charlie Hurt also included information about the NATO summit. Hurt also spoke with Chuck Devore, a retired military intelligence officer.
Hannity - Guest host Kellyanne Conway also included a lot of media of Trump speaking about the conflict from the NATO summit. Conway also spoke with Victoria Coates of the Heritage Foundation and Jim Hanson chief strategist of the Middle East Forum. Hannity covered the story for a total of nine and half minutes. Hanson suggested Iranians could rise up against their own government.

“The people seem to assume that if we’re going to do regime change in some way or support it, that means we’re going to, you know, send the Navy Seals into Bangor to Tehran and try and overthrow the government and put U.S. boots on the ground. There are plenty of people in that country who do not want that government any more, you know, terrorizing their lives and ruining their country. They are the ones who can do that. And if we help them and tell them, that might be the best way for them to do this. That could be a way for it to happen.”

Thursday - July 9, 2026

Fox & Friends - 11 minutes the war was discussed at length. Producers also included the same media clip of President Trump making declarations about his plans for Iran. Brian Kilmeade also spoke with Retired Vice Admiral Robert Harward, former Deputy Commander of the United States Central Command.

“Well, again, I’d start outside the Gulf itself. Where you’re sure, in Chabahar or a city called Jask. That’s that’s risk free. Almost. It’s the hardest point in Iran for them to supply. Take. There’s a major port there. Start there. Take it out. Put boots on the ground, if you would. After you put any boots on the ground. And while I know there The message to the population of Iran that America is serious. Maybe I’ll finish this thing is the end. So part way up into the Gulf, towards Ketchum, towards Bonder boss, those areas and all along the Gulf control that and you can control Iran,” said Harward,

Interestingly enough Harward also appeared on the PBS News Hour last week where he also advocated for sending ‘boots on the ground’ into Iran.

Fox vs. PBS - How Two Networks Covered the Re-naming of Palm Beach International Airport

On Thursday Palm Beach International Airport was officially renamed Donald J. Trump International Airport.

To celebrate, the president’s son Eric Trump and a few other family members, got up in the middle of the night to fly Trump’s Boeing 757 out of PBI only to land it minutes later in DJT in order to be the first official flight.

Fox News was there with cameras on the darkened runway to capture the completely unimpressive moment.

Eric Trump then went on to praise his father for four and half minutes.

“I don’t think there’s anybody more synonymous with Palm Beach. The Donald Trump and maybe all of Florida. But, you know, it’s his home. He absolutely loves the state. . . Won the state by a major margin. You know, and this is the name change. And so now at the top of your take, instead of seeing PBR, you’re going to see DJT in perpetuity. And as I said before guys, I mean, you know, my father really put Palm Beach on the map in a, in a way. I mean, everybody considers Mar-A-Lago to be the winter White House, Southern Boulevard, which is a major road right in front of the airport. It just got renamed to President Donald J. Trump Boulevard in Palm Beach. And it’s actually why it’s now, obviously, President Donald J. Trump international Airport.”

How PBS Covered the Exact Same Story

The PBS News Hour included the name change in its news summary section in a brief 30-second segment.

“You get as of today, travelers flying in or out of Palm Beach, Florida will pass through President Donald J. Trump International Airport. The change follows a law Governor Ron DeSantis signed back in March, renaming Palm Beach International Airport after nearly half a century under that name. It’s part of a broader push to put Mr. Trump’s name or image on public buildings and other institutions. About a dozen U.S. airports are named for presidents, but it’s rare for an airport to be named after someone still living. And this is the first named for a sitting president. President Trump also took the unusual step of registering trademarks for the airport’s new name, raising questions about whether he stands to profit,” said co-anchor Geoff Bennett.

Fox News did not mention that Trump registered trademarks for the airport.

Candidate Endorsements

Candidate endorsements made up 1.4% of the airtime on the shows I covered last week.

Mike Rogers - U.S. Senate, Michigan - Republican
Rep. John James - Governor, Michigan - Republican
Rep. Byron Donalds - Governor, Florida - Republican

Stories Fox News Ignored

Every week I compare the hours I’ve watched on Fox News with five hours of The PBS News Hour. This list has been truncated due to space. Source - PBS News Hour transcripts.

Hamas says it has dissolved its government in Gaza as it prepares to transfer power to a U.N.-backed technical committee. A lower-level official made the announcement at a news conference last week as part of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal with Israel. But the militant group stopped short of saying it would disarm or hand over security to an international force, both of which are requirements in the deal’s second phase. Israel dismissed the announcement as an attempt by Hamas to avoid disarming, and it’s unclear what impact it will have on the ground, if any. Some Palestinians say they hope it’s a step toward peace. (PBS News Hour)
Health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo say more than 500 people have now died in the Ebola outbreak. The Ministry of Health says the virus’ spread continues to outpace the response, with confirmed cases now above 1,500. In the meantime, health workers on the front lines are threatening to go on a 24-hour strike over unpaid benefits and poor working conditions.
That could jeopardize clinical trials with experimental treatments, which opened for enrollment last week. (PBS News Hour)
America's 250th birthday produced memorable images of fireworks and military aircraft flying over D.C. monuments. But one set of photos has gained notoriety for other reasons. They capture masked members of the white supremacist Patriot Front group marching through parts of Washington. Images of them on the Metro alongside other riders have gone viral. Amna Nawaz spoke with one of those riders. (PBS News Hour) *Fox News did not address this incident directly but on X (Twitter) Laura Ingraham claimed with no evidence that the group was somehow leftist protesters or an antifa group disguised as white supremacists.
In Georgia a federal judge rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to collect the names and contact information of every Fulton County election worker from the 2020 election. In his ruling, the Trump-appointed judge said that, given the low need for the subpoenaed information and the highly burdensome nature of the disclosure, the subpoena is unreasonable. President Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that voter fraud in the heavily Democratic county led to his loss in Georgia in 2020. (PBS News Hour)
In France, far right leader Marine Le Pen says she will run for president in 2027 after an appeals court shortened a ban on her eligibility to hold elected office. Last week the Paris court upheld Le Pen’s embezzlement conviction from the previous year and sentenced her to wear an electronic monitor. She has said such a condition would make campaigning impossible. During a TV interview, Le Pen said she would appeal the decision. (PBS News Hour)
For more than 60 years, the federal government has relied on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce laws against workplace discrimination. The Department of Justice is now challenging a legal framework that has underpinned that work for decades. Geoff Bennett discussed the policy shift and its implications with Jenny Yang, a former chair of the EEOC. (PBS News Hour)
A federal judge ordered that more than $5 million in damages be released to writer E. Jean Carroll, stemming from her case against President Trump. The money has been held in escrow since a jury found the president sexually abused her in the 1990s and then defamed her after she revealed the attack. In a two-page order, the judge cited the Supreme Court’s decision last month not to hear an appeal of the 2023 civil verdict. President Trump’s lawyers have already appealed to try to stop the payment. (PBS News Hour)
Rahm Emanuel, a longtime defender of Israel, also warned that the country had become a “regional pariah who sees enemies everywhere.” Emanuel instead pushed for a 23-state solution involving Israel, the Palestinians, and the 21 Arab League nations. His comments reflect growing unease among Democrats about U.S. ties to Israel, with a recent survey finding that nearly six in 10 feel the U.S. is “too supportive.” (PBS News Hour)
Ukraine struck more energy targets inside Russia last week with long-range drones. Its military released videos of strikes on tankers and other vessels in the Sea of Azov. They also hit oil refineries elsewhere. Also last week, President Trump pledged to grant Ukraine a license to build its own patriot air defense systems. In response, the Kremlin largely downplayed that development and instead focused on U.S. diplomatic efforts to end the war. (PBS News Hour)
U.S. home prices hit an all-time high last month. The National Association of Realtors said that the median price for existing homes rose nearly 2% to around $440,000. Those elevated prices and high mortgage rates are adding pressure to would-be homebuyers. (PBS News Hour)
With planning for the midterm elections well underway, President Trump has ousted the remaining members of a bipartisan federal agency that helps state and local officials run smooth elections and certify voting equipment. White House correspondent Liz Landers explained what happened at the Election Assistance Commission and the impact it could have in November. (PBS News Hour)
There was a deadly ICE shooting in Houston last week of a Mexican man who had been living in the U.S. for decades. The Department of Homeland Security says Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not the intended focus of an immigration enforcement operation when the shooting occurred. Federal officials claim an officer then fired in self-defense after Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle,” but have provided no evidence to support that claim. A lawyer for three men who were also in the car is demanding an independent investigation. (PBS News Hour)
The CDC says an intestinal parasite called cyclosporiasis has now reached more than 30 states. The agency has confirmed more than 800 cases of the parasite, which can cause weeks of gastrointestinal illness. At least 86 people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported, and the source has not been identified, but it typically stems from contaminated irrigation water. Experts say to thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables or cook them before eating. (PBS News Hour)
There were also wildfires in Spain and extreme flooding in China that Fox News did not report on last week.