Decoding Fox News

Last week on Fox News Jesse Watters invited a cavalcade of conspiracy theorists who enthusiastically demonized the transgender community and blamed them for the murder of Charlie Kirk. Never mind that the suspect in Kirk’s murder, Tyler Robinson, is a cis-gender young man who was raised in a deeply religious and politically conservative gun-loving family.So far there is no evidence that Robinson worked with an accomplice or coordinated with a larger political organization. According to the series of text messages released by authorities even Robinson’s romantic partner, who happens to be transgender, had no advance notice of his plans to allegedly shoot Charlie Kirk.Watters could have invited former law enforcement officials, a criminal profiler, or a ballistic expert to talk about the horrific crime. The Fox News host could have spoken with people Charlie Kirk worked with at his foundation Turning Point USA or a student who was inspired by Kirk’s advocacy for his faith or political causes.Instead, Watters gave a platform to conspiracy theorists who have peddled false stories about sex trafficking, racist immigration schemes and lies about the 2020 presidential election. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Fox News hosts and guests blamed Kirk’s murder on leftwing extremism even though most political violence in the United States is committed by rightwing individuals and groups. In Colorado a young man radicalized in white supremacy committed a mass shooting at a school on the same day Kirk was killed.While the folks at Fox News called for an end to the violence and heated rhetoric they also demonized and trashed anyone left of center by making them collectively responsible for Kirk’s death as well a slew of other assassination attempts.The message was clear - liberals, progressives and leftists are evil extremists who hate the country. If they don’t stop criticizing the right the Trump administration would hunt them down, destroy their lives and silence their voices. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week most American media companies broadcast live coverage of a humble press conference organized by adult survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking criminal enterprise in front of the Capitol building.Fox News completely ignored it. The network spent most of its focus on Trump’s threats to send National Guard troops into Chicago, RFK Jr.’s Senate hearing and what one Fox contributor described as the Democrat Party’s death spiral.Women sharing their stories about suffering abuse at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, a high-rolling billionaire with powerful friends and allies including the president was not a story that Fox News wanted to elevate. Fox producers did include a few short segments about Sydney Sweeney’s jeans commercial - no really, they did that. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News hosts rejoiced over the federal takeover of Washington D.C., praised Trump for an excessively long cabinet meeting and demonized all transgender people after another tragic mass shooting at a Catholic Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota.When President Donald J. Trump declared that he would send National Guard troops into Chicago the network celebrated the idea of U.S. military personnel fighting crime in the third largest city in the country. The word "‘Chicago’ appeared 132 times in the transcripts last week. But according U.S. News & World Report Chicago did not even make its list of the top 25 most dangerous cities in the United States for 2025-2026 .Other important topics for the Murdoch owned media empire included Cracker Barrel’s decision to go back to its original logo, Gavin Newsom’s social media posts, a recent Democratic National Committee summer meeting and the ICE arrest of Kilmar Abrego Garcia an undocumented immigrant who has been treated like a pawn in Trump’s brutal crackdown on illegal immigration. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week on Fox News California Governor Gavin Newsom’s social media posts got everyone worked up, Laura Ingraham celebrated Trump’s federal takeover of Washington D.C. and the network pretended Trump negotiated a major peace deal with Russia and Ukraine even though he didn’t. Fox also finally uttered the name of ‘he who shall not be named’ - Jeffrey Epstein.Fox News also spent a lot of time and focus on gerrymandering battles in Texas and California, a fatal car accident involving an undocumented immigrant driver and Cracker Barrel’s newly designed logo.The phrase ‘Cracker Barrel’ appeared in the transcripts 40 times last week while ‘Israel’ only showed up seven times. After two weeks of showing some interest in the Israel-Hamas conflict the network went right back to ignoring it. Fox News spends very little airtime on the plight of nearly two million people in war-torn Gaza or the remaining Israeli hostages who have been held captive for nearly 700 days. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News misled its viewers about gerrymandering, hyped up a summit with Putin in Alaska, downplayed Trump’s decision to send the National Guard into Washington D.C., demonized a man who hit a federal law enforcement agent with a foot-long Subway sandwich and finally admitted no one really cared about the Sydney Sweeney jeans commercial.“Fox & Friends,” “The Five,” and “Hannity” boasted to their audiences that a recent poll showed that only 12% of Americans were offended by the Sydney Sweeney jeans ad. Instead of conceding that they spent far too much time, energy and focus on a commercial no one cared about, Fox News personalities portrayed the poll as validation for their excessive coverage.The jeans ad was a three-week story on the network while the word ‘Epstein’ did not appear once in the transcripts from last week. Fox News is apparently not concerned that its glorious leader might have had sex with minor-aged girls or supported a sex trafficking ring in any way. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Fox News hyped up the Trump-Putin summit as if it would be this huge victory for the president. It was an abject failure. The legit news team didn’t hide the fact that the summit was a nothing burger. The opinion news team attempted to spin it. I take you through the entire train wreck covering five hours of Fox News programming from “The Five” to “Hannity.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Fox News, the unofficial propaganda network for the Trump administration, continued to largely ignore the Epstein files, a trove of documents that might link the president to a child sex trafficking ring.Last week the network put most of its focus on a gerrymandering battle that involved Democratic Texas state representatives, the Trump administration, Texas Governor Greg Abbott along with the governors of Illinois, New York and California.Jesse Watters presented the legislative fight as a war between good and evil for the soul of America. Although he over hyped the drama at least it was an important news story unlike the network’s other distractions from the Epstein files. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week the folks at Fox News pretended the ‘Epstein files’ didn’t exist while everyone at the network got extremely worked up over an American Eagle commercial that featured the actress, Sydney Sweeney. The advertisement was yet another culture war fixation meant to distract from Trump’s possible involvement with the sex trafficking of underage girls.The political furor surrounding the Epstein files has reached the rare distinction of being a bipartisan crusade. Americans across the political spectrum have become obsessed with the mysterious circumstances surrounding Jeffrey Epstein’s death, his once close relationship with the president of the United States and the secrecy surrounding documents related to his alleged sex trafficking operation.Trump and his intelligence officials promised they would declassify everything related to Jeffrey Epstein once they had the power to do so. After months of excuses Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel along with Deputy Director Dan Bongino told the American public that there was nothing to reveal. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Since Fox News decided to completely ignore the current scandal surrounding President Trump and The Epstein Files I went through my archives to find every past segment on Jeffrey Epstein from the past 3.5 years. I’m organized them by subject. The clips are full of selective outrage and hypocrisy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week on Fox News the network weaved together the greatest hits from past rightwing conspiracies to create a new tapestry of lies meant to distract its viewers from a growing scandal involving President Trump and an underage sex trafficking ring led by his one-time close associate Jeffrey Epstein.The new fake Obama Russiagate scandal has a bit of everything - a director of national intelligence who is desperate to keep her job, the deep state, Barack Hussein Obama, Hillary Clinton, FISA warrants, declassified memos, dirty dossiers, Hunter Biden’s laptop, Jim Comey, election interference, the complicit mainstream Marxist media and a slew of intelligence community officials who were hellbent on stopping Donald J. Trump’s presidency.The only thing the latest invented scandal lacks is any basis in reality. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Anyone watching Fox News last week might think Trump is far more popular than most polls show, New York City is about to turn the entire country into a communist hellscape, the economy is soaring, and Democrats are to blame for the scandal surrounding the Epstein files.The network also produced a barrage of segments trashing the minority party including California Governor Gavin Newsom, and former President Barack Obama. ‘Democrats are terrible’ took up 18% of the airtime on the shows I covered last week.The network also placed undue focus on a New York City mayoral candidate - Zohran Mamdani. Fox News hosts repeatedly smeared the young New York State assembly member as a dangerous radical communist. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week Fox News tried desperately to avoid a story involving Donald J. Trump, a slew of conspiracy theories and a deceased serial abuser of underage girls. On July 7th the Department of Justice released an unsigned memo that stated plainly that the cause of Jeffery Epstein’s death was suicide and there was no list of powerful men associated with the billionaire who engaged in illicit behavior with minors.The DOJ also said there was not enough evidence to bring charges “against uncharged third parties,” and that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”A segment of Trump’s MAGA base was livid as Attorney General Pam Bondi, the FBI Director Kash Patel and his Deputy Director Dan Bongino had made promises that the secrets surrounding the deceased billionaire’s crimes, the so called ‘Epstein client list’ long hidden by the nefarious deep state would finally be revealed under their leadership. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week as most Americans looked forward to an extended holiday weekend Fox News went into overdrive as it promoted and pushed Trump’s - One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). Since Trump created his massive budget reconciliation bill Fox News has spoken about it in vague and broad terms.No one at the network spent much energy discussing what was included in the legislation until it was in the final stages of gaining enough votes in the House and Senate. Once it was close to getting over the finish line the folks at Fox knew their job was to champion it at all costs.Even during the network’s three-hour Independence Day celebration Fox included extended segments about the success of OBBB. Most of what the Fox News audience learned about the legislation was inaccurate, misleading or downright false.In poll after poll the OBBB remained unpopular with most Americans across the political spectrum. Even several Republican lawmakers in both houses were concerned about the legislation yet all but a handful fell in line to vote for it when pressured by their glorious leader.The OBBB is a monster designed to inflict most of its damage after the midterm elections. As the poorest Americans lose SNAP benefits and Medicaid the wealthiest will have a few more dollars and the country will come closer to financial ruin. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week on Fox News the network worked its audience into a frenzy of paranoia over possible secret Iranian sleeper cells while it celebrated the cruelty of a migrant detention center surrounded by alligators and pythons. As the network focused on fear and sadism it also lauded Donald J. Trump as the daddy of NATO.As a new detention center in Florida nicknamed ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ was announced last week Fox News hosts couldn’t hide their excitement over the prospect of an undocumented immigrant being eaten by a giant reptile or suffocated by a enormous snake.Folks at Fox News might not have realized they were echoing a dark and sinister past in the American south when Black Americans were once used as actual bait for alligators according to researchers at the Jim Crow Museum. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week before Trump decided to bomb three nuclear sites in Iran Fox News was more than happy to encourage him to start a new war in the Middle East - something he vowed he would avoid during his 2024 presidential campaign.When Fox News hosts weren’t standing in front of maps of Iran or going over various animated displays of bunker busting bombs, they were downplaying anti-Trump protests, demonizing Democrats and ignoring the fact that their glorious leader’s approval rating was dropping in multiple polls.Traditionally the American public tends to sour on foreign wars quickly even if they were far more popular when they started. Fox News hosts seemed determined to sell Trump as a president dedicated to peace while pummeling Middle East countries with 30,000-pound bombs. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast covers special weekend editions of shows that were added by Sean Hannity, Bret Baier and others to cover the U.S. military strikes on Iran. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week as Fox News tried to hype up mostly peaceful protests against ICE raids across the country the network was hit with a giant asteroid of a story - one that was too big to ignore and incredibly hard to spin. Israel, seemingly frustrated with Trump’s lack of progress with a diplomatic solution, launched Operation Rising Lion and struck Iran’s nuclear sites.Iran immediately retaliated striking Israel. As of today 224 Iranians have perished along with 24 Israelis.Israel’s actions push the world dangerously close to an expanded global conflict. President Trump has made things worse by recklessly tweeting things that imply that the United States is prepared to enter a full scale war with Iran.Trump posted on social media for Iran’s "unconditional surrender" and said the U.S. knew where Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was located, but would not kill him, "for now.” In social media posts Trump has also used the pronoun ‘we’ when referring to the actions of the Israeli government. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Trump tried to look like a fascist and failed miserably. Army 250 was the saddest parade in the world. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe

Last week before Trump decided to abuse the power of the presidency with his inappropriate use of the U.S. military the network was dedicated to a story that most Americans couldn’t care less about - the former president’s use of an autopen.The term ‘autopen’ showed up 69 times in last week’s transcripts. Last week congressional Republicans led by Rep. James Comer launched a pointless investigation into Joe Biden’s use of a signing machine or autopen.American presidents have used machines to sign documents for decades. The use of an autopen is not illegal or unethical. Republicans, helped by Fox News, are trying to create a narrative that Biden was so mentally incapacitated that he had no idea what he was signing or that someone else in the Biden admin. was signing documents without the president’s knowledge.The autopen scandal is just the latest bright shiny object to keep the Fox News audience focused on something besides Trump’s attempts to turn the United States into his own private fascist fiefdom. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit decodingfoxnews.substack.com/subscribe