Fox fails to disclose Republican operatives on maskless, indoor panel about “reopening America’s schools”

One member of the seven-parent panel was a 2020 Republican congressional candidate, and another is the current president of the Loudoun County Republican Women's Club

Written by Bobby Lewis

Research contributions from Tyler Monroe

Published

Co-host Ainsley Earhardt was “on assignment with the folks” for the February 4 edition of Fox & Friends, speaking to a panel described as seven local parents in Falls Church, Virginia. The “reopening America’s schools” panel criticized Democrats and advocated for more in-person schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it aired intermittently throughout the show.

The indoor panel was socially distanced, but neither Earhardt nor the guests wore masks (although some on the production crew did). Also overlooked by Fox was a disclosure of two guests’ professional involvement with the Republican Party.  

2020 Republican congressional nominee for Virginia's 10th district Aliscia Andrews, appearing on Fox & Friends as a "mom of 3." Chyron reads "Parents Push For Return To In-Person Learning"

Aliscia Andrews was credited on-screen as a “mom of 3,” but Fox News did not credit her as the 2020 Republican nominee for Virginia’s 10th Congressional District. In her Fox & Friends appearance, Andrews did mention “making a promise to the Virginia voters I asked to vote for me last fall,” but that was the only reference to her candidacy.

A screenshot of Loudoun County Republican Women's Club President Patti Hidalgo Menders, appearing on Fox & Friends as a "Loudoun County, VA schools parent." Chyron reads "Parents Push For A Return To In-Person Learning"

Later in the show, Patti Hidalgo Menders was credited on-screen as a “Loudoun County, VA schools parent” and “mother of six,” but her status as the current two-term president of the Loudoun County Republican Women’s Club somehow went unmentioned. 

Fox News frequently conceals conservative political personalities among guests to disingenuously present GOP talking points and right-wing media narratives. Just three days earlier, Fox & Friends hosted “a Chicago parent and a volleyball coach” to attack public school teachers over their alleged “second homes” in Florida and California. Fox failed to mention that she’s also a right-wing talk radio host. In October, Fox & Friends promoted a “suburban mom” and “freelance journalist” who was voting Republican, without revealing that she was also a former press assistant for Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and the Senate Republican Policy Committee, who later wrote multiple opinion bylines at Fox News and the white supremacy-addled Daily Caller. 

fox news presented this person as just “one suburban mom” and “freelance journalist” voting for trump. the fuller story is that she's also a former senate republican comms staffer, a former lobbyist, and has many (opinion) bylines at the daily caller and fox news pic.twitter.com/YgEVPER0Ym

— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) October 28, 2020