NEW YORK — The two main GOP presidential contenders had very totally different interview experiences with Fox News previously week – every an illustration of the affect that even a broken Fox has over the Republican nominating course of.
Donald Trump’s interview with Bret Baier, which aired in two components Monday and Tuesday, was meaty and newsworthy. Baier pressed the previous president about his indictment on hoarding confidential paperwork and pushed again on Trump’s false claims in regards to the 2020 election.
Ron DeSantis’ session with Trump’s former press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, on Wednesday was far softer.
Their appearances alone are proof that Fox, weakened financially by the $787 million settlement over defamation fees reached with Dominion Voting Systems and struggling within the scores following Tucker Carlson’s firing, stays the media kingmaker for Republicans who wish to be president.
After the primary a part of his Trump interview aired, Fox introduced that Baier and Martha MacCallum will average the primary Republican presidential major debate on Aug. 23.
Baier, in citing the paperwork fees with Trump, requested him merely: “Why not just hand them over?”
When the previous president talked about being busy, Baier introduced up the indictment’s cost that he advised an aide to maneuver paperwork to different areas in his Mar-a-Lago property after telling attorneys to say he had absolutely complied with a subpoena, “when you hadn’t.”
He was particular in asking a few recording the place Trump advised somebody about paperwork he may have declassified as president, whereas additionally protecting sight of the massive image. “Why do you want to hold on to these documents after you’re president?” he requested.
“I don’t say I do,” Trump replied.
Afterward, Baier obtained reward in locations the place Fox figures don’t usually hear it, like MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“In many ways, Baier was the big winner of the interview, repeatedly pressing Trump on multiple hot topics and challenging the former president on his lies and questionable praise,” Politico’s Playbook stated.
It was essential for Baier, whose popularity took a success when some Fox communications had been revealed by means of the Dominion lawsuit. Baier had complained internally following the 2020 election that he had turn into uncomfortable defending the community’s controversial – however appropriate – election night time declaration that Biden had gained in Arizona, and steered awarding the state to Trump as a substitute.
He’s interviewed different 2024 GOP contenders Nikki Haley and Chris Christie not too long ago, however not DeSantis, who as a substitute talked with McEnany, a non-journalist.
McEnany primarily teed up DeSantis to speak about Florida’s economic system, “culture war” points and his stance on pandemic-era lockdowns. When DeSantis stated that “(Dr. Anthony) Fauci was attacking everything Florida did,” she agreed.
“I came to Florida a lot on the weekends,” McEnany stated. “People don’t know that. I left the swamp, and it was pretty joyful to be in Florida.”
McEnany additionally introduced up a prolonged Washington Post profile on DeSantis’ spouse Casey, who she referred to as “a real rock star.”
“The best they could come up with in the liberal Washington Post, there are three things Ron DeSantis likes to talk about, the Constitution, baseball, and golf,” she stated. “I think that’s most men in this country.”
Another Post article, about DeSantis donors lending him a golf simulator and offering flights to political occasions, moved on the newspaper’s web site greater than seven hours earlier than the interview and was not introduced up.
To be truthful, Trump has confronted his share of pleasant interviewers on Fox, together with Carlson and Mark Levin. Sean Hannity, who provided Trump recommendation when he was within the White House, hosted the previous president for a city corridor on June 1. DeSantis has additionally appeared on “Fox & Friends” and was interviewed by former GOP congressman Trey Gowdy the night time he introduced his candidacy.
Fox has had a tough two months because the Dominion settlement. Carlson’s firing, for causes by no means publicly unexplained, reduce sharply into the community’s viewers, a few of which decamped to rival Newsmax. Carlson reached a median of three.25 million viewers in his time slot from January by means of March, and subsequent substitute hosts are far beneath that.
Brian Kilmeade reached 2.41 million when Trump’s post-indictment speech was carried dwell on June 13, however averaged only one.57 million viewers in Carlson’s outdated time slot the subsequent three nights, the Nielsen firm stated.
That similar night time, a message referring to President Joe Biden as a “wannabe dictator” appeared on Fox’s display screen, costing two of Carlson’s former producers their jobs. This week, Geraldo Rivera stop as a panelist on the favored present “The Five,” saying he was bored with the political fight.
Still, Republican candidates have appeared for interviews on Fox a staggering 160 instances this 12 months, 15 already this week, the community stated. The most frequent is entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been on 76 instances. Democrats Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson have been on 18 instances.
There are extra media retailers interesting to Republicans than ever, stated speak present host Erick Erickson. Ben Shapiro’s “Daily Wire” has been profitable in reaching younger individuals who don’t watch tv as a lot as their elders, and the fast enhance in cable cord-cutters is ominous for media executives.
Fox nonetheless reaches essentially the most conservatives within the nation, he stated.
“They’re not as dominant as they once were but that doesn’t mean that they’re not dominant,” Erickson stated.
Despite its troubles, Fox retains a strong agenda-setting function. It is especially seen within the wake of Trump’s indictment with the variety of commentators who’ve been attacking the U.S. justice system, famous CNN media author Oliver Darcy.
“Newsrooms often focus on what lawmakers are saying, but the popular talk show hosts have far more influence over the GOP base,” Darcy wrote. “And they’re priming a large portion of the country to believe the government is being run by a menacing anti-democratic force and that law and order no longer exists.”
Many in conservative media are watching carefully to see if it turns into clear {that a} majority of Fox personalities are favoring one candidate or one other, largely to draw consideration by stepping into one other route, Erickson stated.
“People feel there is chum in the water and the sharks are circling,” he stated.
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