Since its launch in 1996, Fox News has been the leading source of conservative misinformation and propaganda. As part of its mission to bolster the right and attack the left, the cable news network frequently ventures into strange territory that’s more cringeworthy than politically effective. And that was truer than ever during its slanted coverage of the 2024 election.
Here are 13 of the worst full-cringe moments from this past election cycle.
1. Matt Gaetz’s failed nomination was secretly Trump’s plan all along
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s nomination by Donald Trump to serve as his attorney general was the president-elect’s first major post-election face-plant. Gaetz’s alleged involvement in sex trafficking a minor was too much for even Trump to overcome. But according to Fox News pundit Tomi Lahren, it was all part of Trump’s genius plan.
“I think this whole thing was very strategic and in my estimation it has the ‘Art of the Deal’ written all over it,” Lahren declared.
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2. Thanksgiving is great again because Trump won
According to Fox News, America’s past few Thanksgivings were lacking a certain something—a political win by Trump. So after he won this year, the network’s top prime-time faces—Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham—declared that their man had made Thanksgiving great again with his victory.
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3. Fox host: Trump’s legal critics deserve the death penalty
Fox News frequently complained when Trump was rightly criticized for his fascist rhetoric and positions. Yet, just a few days after he won the race, Fox host Dana Perino fed directly into those concerns. According to Perino, the death penalty, along with therapy, is something that people who have pursued Trump with legal cases should face.
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4. Fox pundit says vaccines are all about making money, not protecting public health
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Fox repeatedly misinformed its viewers about the virus’ lethality and attacked public health experts’ recommendations.
Four years later, Fox guest and conservative pundit Ben Ferguson—attempting to argue in favor of Trump’s Health and Human Services nominee, the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—told viewers to “follow the money” on vaccine issues. Ferguson’s conspiratorial rhetoric was about questioning the need for vaccinations, which have saved lives for decades.
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5. Fox was so mad that Kamala Harris gave a speech
Days before the election, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a well-received campaign speech from The Ellipse, a park near the White House. Fox News was not having it. While the network had to cover the speech to give the appearance of being a real news network, the right-wing propaganda operation let off steam via the on-screen text shown under Harris as she spoke.
“Kamala calls for unity while trashing Trump,” “Kamala’s final pitch to voters is all about Trump,” and “Kamala delivers dark closing argument” were among the litany of comments Fox aired.
6. Fox melts down at reports of Trump rally racism
The pre-election rally that Trump held in Madison Square Garden, in New York City, featured a comedian making the racist remark that the island of Puerto Rico is “literally a floating island of garbage.” According to the team hosting “Fox & Friends,” it was quite unfair for media outlets to report on this thing that occurred.
“They’re focusing on the wrong things,” co-host Ainsley Earhardt fumed.
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7. Fox News alert: Kamala Harris uses big words
Trump, Fox News’ preferred candidate in the past three elections, infamously uses a very limited vocabulary. However, Harris doesn’t speak like Trump, and Fox News argued in September that this was a very bad thing for her to do.
In an interview, Harris used the term “holistic,” and this triggered Fox. Hannity said it was a “holistic word salad,” while Perino mused, “Imagine she got paid a dollar for every time she said it.”
8. Fox News alert, continued: Kamala Harris drinks beer
During an appearance on Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show,” Harris shared a beer with the host. The moment was a lighthearted nod to the trope of voters wanting a candidate they could drink a beer with.
On “Fox & Friends,” Earhardt fretted that the moment might make women voters like the Democratic nominee, and that by drinking a beer, Harris was ignoring “the border crisis.”
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9. Fox cries foul after Harris handles Fox interview well
In October, Harris agreed to an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, despite the network’s years of slanted coverage of her and the Democratic Party. Harris prepared for the interview, cognizant of how the network might try to trip her up. It was something that any competent politician would do. Fox couldn’t handle it.
“So going in, Kamala Harris knew that there were going to be a lot of questions about the border and migration, and she had some prepared answers,” “Fox & Friends” host Steve Doocy said indignantly.
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The hosts were also upset that Harris mentioned Trump’s name and that she did not allow Baier to steamroll her with his questions. How rude of her.
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10. Fox News Worried That People Might Like Kamala Harris
Fox News has spent years trying to make every Democratic leader appear to be unlikeable. But in early October, Harris gave an interview to the “Call Her Daddy” podcast, and Ainsley Earhardt worried that the appearance might counteract her employers’ years of work.
“If you’re a woman listening to that podcast and you don’t know how progressive she is, you might vote for her,” Earhardt lamented.
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11. Trump invents imaginary audience, spills to “Gutfeld”
Trump appeared for a softball interview with “Gutfeld” host Greg Gutfeld. While joking around with the host, Trump claimed that in his debate with Harris, the crowd “went crazy” for one of his remarks.
Problem? There was no audience for the debate. Gutfeld, who surely watched the event, did not push back on Trump’s made-up story.
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12. Hannity hosts Trump for another election conspiracy
Fox News had to pay out a lot of their money for pushing pro-Trump lies around the 2020 presidential election, with the network settling for nearly $800 million for promoting election conspiracies. But in September, Fox hosted a town hall with Trump, moderated by Trump fanboy Sean Hannity.
It was there that Trump mused that ABC News, who hosted a presidential debate between Trump and Harris, would give the Democrat the questions ahead of time. It was an absurd allegation, but Hannity had no interest in pushing for evidence of the claim.
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13. Fox uncovers another Kamala Harris preparedness scandal
Everyone knows that Trump does not stay on message. His speeches and press conferences are a rambling mess as he bounces from grievance to grievance. By contrast, Harris exercised message discipline during her run.
As far as Fox News was concerned, this was a bad call.
“She has certain themes—she has certain topics and certain phrases that she has practiced, because she has not been very good extemporaneously speaking,” Steve Doocy, a “Fox & Friends” host, said.
It is called message discipline, and historically speaking, it is the kind of behavior associated with winning campaigns. But when a Democrat like Harris does it, in the Fox News universe, it’s a mess.
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Fox News saw its preferred candidate win this year’s presidential election, and by all indications, with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, the network will not bother to hold the party in charge responsible. Instead, everything wrong will be the fault of the Democrats because when they do anything Republicans have done for eons, it’s wrong.
Somehow.
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