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I usually start each year on January 1st with the Rose Parade on Channel 5, followed by college football in the afternoon and evening. This day is honestly one of the few days I really relax and try to do something that is almost impossible for me: something that isn’t work.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t how my 2025 started.
I woke up early that morning to the news that ISIS sympathizers had driven a truck onto Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. Shortly after, he sent an email saying his family was safe after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
When a national tragedy like this happens, I immediately switch the TV to CNN. The cable channel’s team of on-the-ground correspondents is unparalleled, with anchors and commentators who minimize opinion and speculation and stick to the facts in an authoritative tone. I spent hours watching it Wednesday, trying to make sense of the horrible start to the new year, instead of festooned floats and read-option offenses.
Maybe he was feeling lightheaded from the festivities the night before. Maybe you’re full from the tamales you had for breakfast. But at some point, I decided to ditch CNN and tune in to a channel I rarely watch.
Fox News.
I don’t live in a liberal bubble. I listen to Ben Shapiro and Congressman Dan Crenshaw’s podcasts whenever I can, receive dozens of conservative newsletters ranging from libertarian to white supremacist, and read articles like The Wanderer and the New Oxford Review. I subscribe to an orthodox Catholic newspaper. My right-leaning friends love to argue with me because they know I’m not some mean-spirited ideologue. For years, I’ve been following the rise of Trump-loving Latinos in this column, warning liberals that they ignore and ridicule the Republican Party at their own peril.
Savvy Americans listen to all opinions and make decisions, always adhering to the newspaper adage: “If your mother says she loves you, listen to her.” That’s why FOX News has always been a bridge too far for me.
A parade of incendiary hosts over the years, including Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson, and Bill O’Reilly, have corroded public discourse like rust in a sink. It’s here. When it comes to breaking news about serious issues, I don’t mind abuse or bias. That’s why I rarely watch MSNBC either. Plus, my viewing habits have always been local. Channel 5 in the morning, a three-hour evening news slot on KCAL-TV Channel 9, and a half-hour newscast on KNBC-TV Channel 4 starting at 11 p.m.
I will always give a chance to those who disagree. I don’t regret my decision to turn on FOX News on New Year’s Day. Because it was a stark and necessary reminder of the fetid information ecosystem that put Donald Trump in the White House, gave him majorities in both houses of Congress, and painted his critics. Enemies like me.
In 2023, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany appears on “Hannity” at the Fox News studios in Manhattan.
(Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
I watched FOX News for four hours straight, with anchors Kayleigh McEnany (a former White House secretary in Donald Trump’s administration), Tammy Bruce, and Trace Gallagher following one after the other. Their broadcasts gave viewers a glimpse of what was known at the time from the scene of the deadly attack, and also included footage of press conferences by law enforcement agencies investigating the crime. These short pieces at least had a semblance of objectivity. The “fair and balanced” mantra that FOX News has long espoused is its approach.
But when the anchors brought in Fox News contributors, their programs reflected the liberal worldview currently in power in this country.
One after another, guests prioritized diversity efforts and condemned attacks on the FBI, which is believed to be investigating conservatives over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and thwarting terrorist attacks. The buzzword “Antifa,” which has nothing to do with the crime at hand, was thrown around like confetti. Please open your borders. People who hate police. Farthest left.
McEnany, Bruce, and Gallagher did not imply that the assailants had recently entered the country, as President Trump and their own networks had initially suggested. But they continued to refer to the attackers as “American citizens,” as if they could not believe that a man with a name like Shamsud Din Jabbar could be American. The same term was not used on Fox News to describe Las Vegas Cybertruck bomber Matthew Lyblesberger, according to a review of the records.
Former Green Beret Jim Hanson called President Biden a “demented corpse, barely alive.” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson called for “immediate approval” of all of President Trump’s nominees to make it easier for the president-elect to accomplish his agenda. Counterterrorism commentator Aaron Cohen referenced the pro-Palestinian rally that day in Times Square and linked it to the New Orleans attack, saying, “You’re not containing this. Things like this happen. is.”
The FOX News I remembered was lathering at full power. paranoia. Full of revenge. The purpose is to incite rather than inform the audience.
But the most bizarre commentary came from former San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Megan McCarthy. Earlier in the day, FOX News published a report saying that the truck in which Jabbar killed many people had entered the United States from Mexico several days earlier, and then returned. After this false article, an avalanche of politicians called for a closure of the southern border, with President Trump claiming on social media that “criminals coming into our country are far worse than criminals in our country.” did.
Mr. Gallagher aired an interview with New Orleans-area Republican Congressman Steve Scalise, in which Mr. Scalise addressed Fox News’ original border crossing claims.
“I don’t know why,” Mr. Gallagher told Mr. McCarthy. “We don’t know what the connection is. We’re not pointing fingers. We’re just saying our situation at the moment is interesting.”
“Where there is smoke, there is also fire,” she replied. “And two things could be true at the same time. There could be someone who was compromised while they were a U.S. citizen, and there could be a problem at the southern border that would play a role in this attack.” It is possible that it was given.”
That’s why Ms. McCarthy proposed that the FBI allow American citizens to “participate in investigations,” something she would not have advocated for when she was a deputy sheriff.
“I understand that as a law enforcement officer, you know things that you want to keep secret,” she said. “But I think we’ve seen the destruction on our southern border for the last four years. We know there’s some correlation.”
Mr Gallagher then referred to a police officer who had said earlier in the day that his failure to pursue a shoplifter “made it harder to go after the bigger fish, the bigger criminals.”
McCarthy agreed.
“When I was a police officer, we used to do traffic stops to control violations on the move because that led to bigger crimes,” she said, before adding, “We don’t fear crime. “We need to get back to protecting people,” he added. It starts with having tough conversations and saying hard truths. ”
From the Walgreens rip-off to the New Orleans terrorist attack? Fox News once had a different slogan. “We report, you decide.” Too many Americans, given that its ratings were the highest in a decade and the highest-rated cable network for nine consecutive years. decided that the world of FOX News whining was real and voted for their fellow true believers.
Everyone else, fasten your seatbelts. The next four years are going to be hell.
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