What’s a Media Outlet to Do When Its Host is Picked to Run the Pentagon?
What’s a media outlet supposed to do when its longtime host is picked to run the Pentagon, and then a series of eyebrow-raising news stories trigger doubts about his appointment? If you’re Fox News, evidently, you just pretend the stories don’t exist.
Fox News, which employed Pete Hegseth for a decade, has not covered the past week’s controversies involving President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, according to SnapStream and TVEyes database searches. The omission is potentially significant because Fox is the top TV outlet for Republicans, and Hegseth’s confirmation hinges on Republican senators.
Last Friday, The New York Times reported that Hegseth’s own mother “accused her son of mistreating women for years.” On Sunday, The New Yorker reported that Hegseth was “forced out of previous leadership positions for financial mismanagement, sexist behavior, and being repeatedly intoxicated on the job.” Despite these allegations, Fox has noticeably avoided both recent stories.
Instead, almost all of the recent mentions of Hegseth on Fox have been supportive or sympathetic. “A lot of people are pumped up” about Hegseth’s appointment, “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade said last Tuesday. When a guest on Fox said Sunday that Hegseth “has been credibly accused of raping a woman,” an anchor interjected Hegseth’s denial, then moved on.
For the next seven years, Hegseth’s star rose at Fox; he continued to co-host the weekend show and appear on air until the day before Trump nominated him to run the Pentagon, one of the most important leadership positions in the world. In the weeks since, Fox’s opinion programs have cheered him on while Fox’s news programs have gingerly covered the nomination.
The network has insulated its conservative audience from reports that might dim their perception of Hegseth and Trump, instead offering viewers a safe space where their existing beliefs are reinforced by sympathetic hosts and guests.
