President Donald Trump sent National Guard troops to Chicago and other Democratic-run cities. objections from local leaders.
To justify his actions, Trump falsely claimed that crime was rising and protests were out of control, criticizing Democratic Party leaders for allegedly ignoring the problem. That's not the case in Chicago, and fact checkers noted Trump's rhetoric runs counter to the general downward trend in crime.
Trump, known for his prolific lies, has often made major policy decisions like these based not on facts but on his TV viewing habits.
Trump is addicted to television
Trump became addicted to watching Fox News, regularly calling into programs and writing about the channel online. And America suffers as he attacks a fictional version of reality concocted by a right-wing propaganda network.
For example, on September 27 Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will use resources to “provide all necessary troops to protect war-torn Portland and any of our ICE facilities under siege from attacks by Antifa and other domestic terrorists.”
This is the message seems to have been Made in response to footage aired by Fox News dating back to 2020. And even this footage, drawn largely from protests for racial justice that year, highlights isolated incidents of violence and property damage, ignoring largely peaceful calls for equality and nonviolence.
On the contrary, Portlanders uploaded video which show a city in the throes of normal life, with an eclectic mix of citizens relaxing and having fun, rather than living in a “war-torn” city.
On Fox News Portland, Chicagoand other Democratic-led cities are constantly burning and in chaos. This is the mode of operation of the network, and it is the same type of dishonesty that headed the network to pay nearly $800 million to Dominion Voting Systems for spreading lies in support of Trump after his defeat in the 2020 election.
The discerning Fox viewer may understand that showing the same footage over and over again does not mean new instances of an event are occurring, but Trump is probably not that kind of viewer.
Fox News routinely lies about American cities
In 2011 Fox repeatedly showed A one image about a migrant climbing over a border wall as part of the network's campaign arguing that the border was wide open under then-President Barack Obama (a strategy that continued under former President Joe Biden).
Around this time, Trump made comments on Fox promoting racist conspiracies regarding Obama's birthplace. Later he got fixated on the idea that migrants were using the porous border wall as a way to enter the United States, and the idea of building a solid wall between the U.S. and Mexico became central to his 2016 presidential campaign.
In his first term Trump-Fox feedback loop— as Media Matters for America senior fellow Matt Hertz put it — came to life. Trump followed the network religiously and built his presidency on its obsessions.
When Fox told Trump he needed to pardon or pardon criminals and he basically did what he was told. And despite having America's entire intelligence infrastructure at his fingertips, Trump based his North Korea policy, including the threat of nuclear strikes, apparently based on what he watched on Foxoften tweeting her hot shots.
Fox decided that migrant caravans were heading north to the US border, so Trump focused full strength his presidency on the issue, drawing on “Fox & Friends,” which is known as his favorite Fox series.
Addiction turns into action
During his second term, Trump hasn't lost the habit of Fox.
In June Trump launched military strikes on Iran shortly after Fox & Friends aired segments calling for conflict with Iran. Earlier that month, Fox News weekend host Mark Levin even led a delegation to the White House to push for military intervention in the region.
At times, Trump and his family have had public disagreements with Fox, which some have mistakenly interpreted as a serious rift. For example, Donald Trump Jr. recently moaned that the network doesn't worship Trump enough, and Trump currently suing Fox owner Rupert Murdoch in connection with a Wall Street Journal report on his connections accused human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
But on the contrary, Fox and Trump for the most part continue to act as one. Trump has filled his administration with people he watched on Fox. transfer of numbers like Fox and Friends' Pete Hegseth, who took over the Department of Defense.
In response, Fox expresses near-constant support for Trump, interpreting his many failures as successes. For example, when Trump failed and lied to the UN in September, the network welcomed him for allegedly blasting world leaders with the “brute truth.”
Trump is the most influential Fox News viewer in the world. When American citizens see the National Guard marching through their streets with machine guns, they can thank the president whose brain has apparently merged with his television.
