Fox Information introduced the hiring of President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who lately served as co-chair of the Republican Occasion. The transfer continues to erode the practically invisible line separating Trump, the GOP, and the tv community.
She’s going to host the present, known as “My View with Lara Trump,” on Saturdays, which is among the least-watched days in cable information. Scheduling her right now signifies that Fox Information is extra considering having the Trump household on its payroll than any severe information protection.
“She is very talented and is a strong, effective communicator with great potential as a host,” Fox Information CEO Suzanne Scott gushed in an electronic mail to The New York Occasions.
Lara generated some headlines throughout the 2024 election cycle when she described Trump’s abortion bans as a “niche” challenge, regardless of the thousands and thousands of Individuals who’re nonetheless combating the fallout.
After the election, her identify was floated as a attainable appointee to the Senate seat left vacant by Marco Rubio, who now serves as secretary of state. However she in the end took her identify out of rivalry—although many believed she was by no means going to be chosen anyway.
The announcement coincided with a Monday assembly on the White Home between Fox Information founder and proprietor Rupert Murdoch and President Trump, who informed reporters he had “great respect” for the media mogul regardless of the a number of scandals which have plagued his media empire for years, together with hacking the phone of a murdered teenager for tabloid scoops.
Whereas Trump and Fox Information have all the time been shut (he was as soon as an everyday contributor to “Fox & Friends,” the place he promoted anti-Obama conspiracies), Lara’s hiring additional erodes the community’s claims of legitimacy as a information group.
Lara’s hiring was additionally one thing of a revolving-door transfer by the community, since she was beforehand employed by Fox Information as a paid contributor starting in 2021. She additionally hosted a podcast in recent times, which is a preview of the kind of incendiary commentary that’s seemingly coming quickly to Fox.
On the podcast, Lara claimed that public well being measures throughout the peak of the coronavirus pandemic had been proof of “totalitarian rule,” known as gender transition surgical procedure “mutilating your body,” promoted faux tales about kids utilizing litter containers in faculties, and pushed the racist “great replacement” conspiracy that alleges that Latinx immigrants will substitute white folks.
Maybe most worrisome for her new employer is that Trump was a diehard believer in 2020 election conspiracy theories. Echoing his lies, Lara stated that there was “widespread fraud” after Joe Biden gained and accused Democrats of working to “rig” the election. Fox Information needed to pay out practically $800 million after being sued for selling these election conspiracies.
The community should anticipate its newest nepotism rent to pay out handsomely if it’s prepared to place her on digital camera each week regardless of espousing such long-debunked views.