Fox & Friends has spent years being the punch line of every joke about Fox News. It’s been called “TV’s dumbest news show”: a toxic mix of internet conspiracy theories, right-wing propaganda, and general absurdity. The show’s hosts have accused President Obama of going to school at a madrassa, argued that Spongebob Squarepants promotes a global warming agenda, and once tried to roast marshmallows with a plastic spoon. It’s a show that’s often parodied but rarely taken seriously outside of the Fox News bubble.
The Trump-Fox & Friends feedback loop, explained
The worst news show on TV is influencing the White House.
And it’s now one of the most influential news shows in the US, because it has a direct line to the White House.
That’s thanks to President Trump, who regularly watches the show and tweets what he sees. Trump regularly tweets about Fox & Friends’ morning news segments, often quotes Fox & Friends chyrons verbatim, and tags the show in his tweets. One study found that Trump tweets most frequently between 6 and 9 a.m. — during Fox & Friends’ timeslot.
Fox & Friends has noticed the attention. A Vox study of 17 months of Fox & Friends transcripts found that, after the 2016 presidential election, the show began using more language aimed at influencing Trump’s behavior — phrases like “we have got” and “we are going.”
That’s given Fox & Friends tremendous power to hijack the news cycle; to get other networks talking about the right-wing horror stories and conspiracies that would otherwise never escape the Fox News bubble.
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