• The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles: “Atheist chaplains, in a way, have already existed for a long time and we just call them psychiatrists.”
• Fox’s Jesse Watters said Trump’s cabinet picks are there to be good on TV: “This is a federal bureaucracy. It runs itself.”
• Newsmax's Greg Kelly: Matt Gaetz “could always come and work here at Newsmax, as he has done quite a bit over the past couple of years.” 
• Jesse Watters suggested a “special prosecutor” role for Matt Gaetz. 
• Tomi Lahren said the nomination and withdrawal of Matt Gaetz for attorney general “has the art of the deal written all over it.” 

• Charlie Kirk’s guest Darren Beattie said “there will be Armageddon for any senator who does not step in line” with Trump’s appointees. 
• Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk promised mass deportations and warned: “If a Democrat gets in our way, well, then Matt Gaetz very well might go arrest you.” 
• Project 2025’s Russ Vought: “The whole notion of an independent agency should be thrown out.” 
• Fox’s Jesse Watters celebrated Trump’s promise to use the military to deport immigrants “the hard way.”

• Fox host Brian Kilmeade said Matt Gaetz’s congressional persona is “not somebody to unify, rally around, that speaks for law and order.” 
• The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles told Rep.-elect Sarah McBride: “How about you … act like a gentleman and stay out of the women’s bathroom.” 
• Fox’s Laura Ingraham said Trump’s agenda will be “tough for the economy. There is no doubt about it.”
• Fox Business host Dagen McDowell said firing thousands of career civil servants will be “a renaissance in America.”

• Media Matters President Angelo Carusone discussed how Trump secretary of defense pick and former Fox host Peter Hegseth “sees the world through crusader terms.” 
• Media Matters’ Matt Gertz discussed the revolving door between Fox and the second Trump administration with On the Media.

Fox News dominated wide swathes of federal decision-making during Donald Trump’s first presidency, as his administration effectively merged with the right-wing propaganda network that propelled him to power. 

Trump owed his 2016 ascent to the White House to the right-wing media ecosystem. A longtime Fox regular, he was obsessed with the network’s programming and channeled its demagoguery on the campaign trail. He dominated Fox’s airtime on the way to his primary win, bending the network and the GOP to his will before garnering a narrow Electoral College majority. 

After Trump assumed office, Fox became a state TV outlet that lavished him with praise and denounced his foes. In doing so, it gained unprecedented influence over the U.S. government. Fox’s employees affected wildly important policy decisions on matters of war and peace, and they turned right-wing tantrums into matters of national importance because the president of the United States happened to be tuning in. 

Media Matters’ Matt Gertz wrote this detailed account of the relationship between Fox and Trump during the first Trump administration. It’s a sobering warning for what we may expect after January 20, 2025.

After naming several picks for prominent cabinet positions who have drawn scrutiny for their inexperience and controversial statements, Donald Trump is calling on Senate Republicans to let him make recess appointments. Never missing an opportunity to do Dear Leader’s bidding, Trump’s media allies are making the case for him to skip the Senate confirmation process. 

• Article III Project founder Mike Davis responded to a question about recess appointments by saying, “Every option should be on the table.” 
• War Room host Steve Bannon told his audience members to call their senators and demand a 15-day recess for Trump to appoint his cabinet. 
• Former Trump administration official Ric Grenell told Newsmax’s Greg Kelly that Senate Republicans should “at the very minimum, give him a recess appointment and let the reform start.” 
• Right-wing commentator Mike Crispi wrote: “Recess appointments solves all. It’s time to WIN!”

Fox News is downplaying Donald Trump’s planned “mass deportations” by saying the effort will prioritize migrants with “criminal records.” But two of his top picks to oversee immigration policy have echoed what he and the vice president-elect have threatened: The deportations will include all undocumented immigrants in addition to migrants here legally and mixed-status families. 

Trump has announced that his former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement director, Tom Homan, will oversee immigration policy in his second administration and his former senior adviser Stephen Miller will serve as his deputy chief of staff on policy. Both Homan and Miller have expressed support for Trump’s plan to enact mass deportations of immigrants from the United States. 

Despite evidence to the contrary, Fox figures and guests have claimed that Trump’s policies will primarily or initially focus on undocumented people with criminal backgrounds. Anchors Bret Baier and Bill Hemmer, for example, repeatedly downplayed the impact of the deportation policy by claiming Trump is “going after the criminals” and "suspected terrorists” first, with noncriminals addressed later as part of a “tiered approach.” 

In reality, Trump’s mass deportation plans could impact more than 22 million who live in the country’s 5.8 million mixed-status families, where one or more family members are undocumented.

• Organizations on the advisory board of Project 2025 have responded to Trump’s victory by promoting extreme approaches to carrying out his promise to deport upward of 10 million undocumented immigrants.
• Right-wing commentator Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, previously argued against allowing women to serve in combat roles because, he suggested, their presence might “exacerbate” the crisis of sexual assault in the military. Hegseth also has a history of defending war crimes, torture, and more. 
• Anti-vaccine media figures say they are advising Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Trump transition team about public health policy.