• Fox’s Sean Hannity: “I need to manage people’s expectations” for the Trump administration.
• War Room host Steve Bannon commented on Trump’s charts during his tariff announcement: “Those are like the tablets that Moses brought down.”

• Daily Wire host Michael Knowles: "Homophobia, what does that mean? Viewing aberrant sexual acts with moral opprobrium? What’s wrong with that?”

• Ben Shapiro said many Republican members of Congress “seem to enjoy kind of swimming in the swamps of conspiracy theories.” 
• Fox anchor Harris Faulkner said the American public should support the “war effort” of Trump’s tariffs despite “this bumpy period.” 
• Fox host Jimmy Failla said Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-NJ) speech “looks like something I see on the subway every day, like if I was in the chamber, I might have put a dollar in his cup.”
• Fox’s Laura Ingraham said Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) is “going very street.”

President Donald Trump has deported at least 260 migrants to the CECOT prison in El Salvador, alleging that many of them are connected to the gang Tren de Aragua. However, the lack of due process for these deportees and the flimsy evidence of gang affiliation has raised serious concerns. In response to revelations that the administration has sent people in error to the notorious foreign prison, Fox News propagandists are employing a variety of defenses. 

Fox News and Fox Business personalities and their guests have continued to claim that those in the prison are “terrorists,” the “worst of the worst,” and “criminal aliens.” I invite you to check out this piece which details some of the excuses Fox has conjured. 

With Fox, it’s not a question of if its personalities will defend the latest atrocities from the Trump administration — it’s a question of how they will do it.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs ranging from 10% to 49% on imports from countries across the world. In response, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 1,600 points on Thursday, the largest drop since the COVID-19 pandemic. Global markets continued to fall into Friday morning. 

In the days leading up to the tariff announcement, Fox hosts hyped the so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs. After the markets began reacting to the announcement, right-wing media pundits offered an array of spins to defend Trump’s actions. 

• Newsmax host Rob Schmitt said a 1,500 point drop in the DOW is “not that bad.” 
• Fox Business host Charles Payne expressed confusion as to why the media are covering the economic pain of Trump’s tariffs on Americans. 
• Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk: “It might be harder to go buy piles of plastic that you do not need.”  
• Sean Hannity: “I am absolutely a thousand percent confident that things are going to work out in the end for everybody.” 
• Jesse Watters: “It’s an exciting time to be alive.” 
• Fox's Jeanine Pirro told viewers to ignore the stock market “for the next few weeks.” 

Some right-wing media pundits, meanwhile, condemned or at least expressed concern about Trump’s tariffs. 

• Fox host Steve Doocy acknowledged that “There have been some estimates…the average American family would feel $3,800 of pain if those go through.” 
• Steve Forbes admitted that Trump’s tariffs will put small companies out of business. 
• Ben Shapiro said Trump’s tariffs are “a massive tax increase on American consumers,” adding that they are “designed to be so.” 
• Fox Business host Dagen McDowell was befuddled by Trump’s tariff calculations: “Those numbers … they don’t mean anything.”

In the first months of the Trump administration, right-wing media have claimed that Social Security would not be harmed, with some figures even suggesting Trump could improve it. However, the administration’s signature cuts have hit the Social Security Administration, leading to reports of delayed benefits and long hold times. As the Trump administration is putting even more pressure on SSA to cut costs, experts warn that more chaos at the agency could cause significant delays for seniors awaiting benefits, and that some may not receive their benefits at all. 

Additionally, a series of operational changes ordered by the Trump administration at SSA — including staff reduction, closures at regional offices, and burdensome new security measures — have advocates worried for seniors and disabled people who rely on Social Security. 

I invite you to check out this piece by Media Matters’ Pete Tsipis detailing how right-wing media’s lies about Social Security are juxtaposed to the harsh reality many seniors are already facing.

• Fox dismissed anticipated vehicle price hikes from Trump’s tariffs. 
• Media Matters’ President Angelo Carusone said Signalgate shows why accountability journalism matters. 
• Media Matters’ Matt Gertz discussed the dangers of Trump’s war on the press.