Fox News hits peak Trump sycophancy as opinion hosts disregard the networkâs own reporting
In the hours after the New York Times reported on Thursday night that  President Trump  tried to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III last June  journalists at other news outlets scrambled to confirm the story independently. By 11 p.m.  Fox News's chief national correspondent Ed Henry had done so.
âWeâre breaking tonight a source close to the White House telling Fox the New York Times is accurate â Henry said at the top of the network's late newscast. â The president  did tell top officials last summer  he  wanted to fire Robert S. Mueller III. But a White House counsel  Donald McGahn  and other aides convinced  the president  not to do it.â
Henry might as well have gone to bed early  because on Friday morning âFox & Friendsâ disregarded his reporting in a staggering display of pro-Trump sycophancy.
[ Trump  moved to fire Mueller in June  bringing White House counsel to the brink of leaving]
At the top of the show  âFox & Friendsâ host Steve Doocy held up Friday's print edition of the Times and said  âThereâs a big story that apparently the president of the United States  last June  wanted to fire Robert S. Mueller III because  the president  felt that  he  had a bunch of conflicts of interest  could not adequately be the special counsel.â
Co-host Pete Hegseth jumped in to say that  Trump  âdoesnât think that the story was all that true.â Hegseth then cued a clip of  the president 's response to the report  delivered to reporters in Davos.
âFake news  folks  fake news â  Trump  said. âTypical New York Times fake stories.â
âAll right  well   the president  says itâs fake news â co-host Ainsley Earhardt said  in conclusion. âThat happened last June. Do you â you know  itâs something we have to tell you about âcause it is a headline on the New York Times. What do you think about that? Do you even care? Something you probably do care about is immigration.â
It is standard practice for Fox News opinion hosts to dump on competitors' reports  but âFox & Friendsâ now appears so willing to defend and protect  Trump  that  it  will undercut the work of the network's own journalists. âFox & Friendsâ enjoys a special relationship with  the president . He frequently tweets about segments he sees on the program  and the show flaunts its power to influence  the president 's thinking.
Early in the 9 p.m. hour  Hannity told viewers that âour sources â and I've checked in with many of them â they're not confirmingâ the Times story. About 20 minutes later  Henry appeared on Hannity's show with partial confirmation; Henry said he could report that  Trump  had  in fact  been concerned about what he viewed as Mueller's conflicts of interest.
After another 20 minutes had passed  Hannity said this: âAll right  so  we have sources tonight just confirming to Ed Henry that  yeah  maybe  Donald Trump  wanted to fire the special counsel for conflict. Does  he  not have the right to raise those questions? You know  we'll deal with this tomorrow night. We have a shocking video to bring you  by the way. This footage comes to us from Arizona  where you see that red SUV  high-speed police chase.â
Hannity offered spin and distraction:  The president  was within  his  right! And  hey  look over here at this car crash! But even Hannity dialed back the âfake newsâ meter  as a Fox News journalist lent credence to the Times report.
In the hours after the New York Times reported on Thursday night that   [TGT] tried to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III last June  journalists at other news outlets scrambled to confirm the story independently. By 11 p.m.  Fox News's chief national correspondent Ed Henry had done so.
âWeâre breaking tonight a source close to the White House telling Fox the New York Times is accurate â Henry said at the top of the network's late newscast. â  [TGT] did tell top officials last summer   [TGT]   wanted to fire Robert S. Mueller III. But a White House counsel  Donald McGahn  and other aides convinced  the president  not to do it.â
Henry might as well have gone to bed early  because on Friday morning âFox & Friendsâ disregarded his reporting in a staggering display of pro-Trump sycophancy.
[  [TGT] moved to fire Mueller in June  bringing White House counsel to the brink of leaving]
At the top of the show  âFox & Friendsâ host Steve Doocy held up Friday's print edition of the Times and said  âThereâs a big story that apparently the president of the United States  last June  wanted to fire Robert S. Mueller III because   [TGT] felt that   [TGT]   had a bunch of conflicts of interest  could not adequately be the special counsel.â
Co-host Pete Hegseth jumped in to say that   [TGT] âdoesnât think that the story was all that true.â Hegseth then cued a clip of  the president 's response to the report  delivered to reporters in Davos.
âFake news  folks  fake news â   [TGT] said. âTypical New York Times fake stories.â
âAll right  well    [TGT] says itâs fake news â co-host Ainsley Earhardt said  in conclusion. âThat happened last June. Do you â you know  itâs something we have to tell you about âcause it is a headline on the New York Times. What do you think about that? Do you even care? Something you probably do care about is immigration.â
It is standard practice for Fox News opinion hosts to dump on competitors' reports  but âFox & Friendsâ now appears so willing to defend and protect   [TGT]   that  it  will undercut the work of the network's own journalists. âFox & Friendsâ enjoys a special relationship with  the president . He frequently tweets about segments he sees on the program  and the show flaunts its power to influence  the president 's thinking.
Early in the 9 p.m. hour  Hannity told viewers that âour sources â and I've checked in with many of them â they're not confirmingâ the Times story. About 20 minutes later  Henry appeared on Hannity's show with partial confirmation; Henry said he could report that   [TGT] had  in fact  been concerned about what he viewed as Mueller's conflicts of interest.
After another 20 minutes had passed  Hannity said this: âAll right  so  we have sources tonight just confirming to Ed Henry that  yeah  maybe   [TGT] wanted to fire the special counsel for conflict. Does   [TGT]   not have the right to raise those questions? You know  we'll deal with this tomorrow night. We have a shocking video to bring you  by the way. This footage comes to us from Arizona  where you see that red SUV  high-speed police chase.â
Hannity offered spin and distraction:  The president  was within  his  right! And  hey  look over here at this car crash! But even Hannity dialed back the âfake newsâ meter  as a Fox News journalist lent credence to the Times report.