What I learned from watching Fox News after the New Orleans attack

I usually start each January 1st with the Rose Parade broadcast on Channel 5, then college football in the afternoon and evening. It's one of the few days where I honestly really try to relax and do something that is almost impossible for me: not work.

Unfortunately, that's not how I started my 2025.

I woke up to the news that an ISIS sympathizer had driven a truck onto Bourbon Street in New Orleans that same morning, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. Shortly after, a family member sent a text message saying they were safe after a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

Whenever national tragedies like these occur, I immediately switch my television to CNN. The cable channel's team of field correspondents is second to none, and its hosts and commentators keep opinions and speculation to a minimum while sticking to the facts in a tone that attempts to be authoritative. That's what I saw for hours on Wednesday, instead of flower-decked, offensive read-option floats, as I tried to make sense of the horrible start to the new year.

Maybe he was groggy from the previous night's festivities. Maybe I was too full from the breakfast tamales. But at some point, I decided to ditch CNN and tune into a channel I rarely watch:

fox news.

I don't live in a liberal bubble. I listen to Ben Shapiro and Rep. Dan Crenshaw's podcasts when I can, receive dozens of conservative newsletters ranging from libertarian to white nationalist, and subscribe to orthodox Catholic newspapers like the Wanderer and the New Oxford Review. Right-wing friends love to debate me because they know I'm not an instinctive ideologue. I've followed the rise of Trump-loving Latinos in this column for years, and they have long warned liberals that they ignore and ridicule Republicans at their peril.

A well-informed American listens to all points of view and makes a decision, always respecting the newspaper saying that if your mother tells you she loves you, go check it out. That's why Fox News has always been a bridge too far for me.

A parade of demagogic hosts over the years (Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Tucker Carlson and Bill O'Reilly are among the most notorious) have corroded public discourse like rust on a sink. When it comes to breaking news on serious topics, I don't like rants or slants; that's why I rarely watch MSNBC either. Plus, my viewing habits have always been decidedly local: Channel 5 in the morning, KCAL-TV Channel 9's three-hour evening news block, then the 11 p.m. half-hour newscast on KNBC Channel 4 -TV.

I'm always willing to give things I'm opposed to a chance. I don't regret my decision to turn on Fox News on New Year's Day, because it was a sobering and necessary reminder of the fetid information ecosystem that propelled Donald Trump to the White House, created a majority in both houses of Congress, and painted the critics. like me as the enemy.

I watched Fox News for four hours straight, with anchors Kayleigh McEnany (former White House Secretary under Donald Trump), Tammy Bruce and Trace Gallagher back to back. Its broadcasts began with segments from the scenes of the deadly attacks that told viewers what was known at the time and included footage of news conferences by law enforcement investigating the crimes. Those brief snippets at least offered the pretense of objectivity: the “fair and balanced” mantra that Fox News has long insisted is its modus operandi.

But once the hosts brought in Fox News contributors, their shows reflected the unhinged worldview that now wields power in this country.

Guest after guest blamed the attacks on the FBI for allegedly choosing diversity initiatives and investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and conservatives over stopping terrorist attacks. Buzzwords were flying like confetti that had nothing to do with the crimes at hand: Antifa. Open borders. Those who hate the police. The extreme left.

McEnany, Bruce and Gallagher did not imply that the perpetrator had recently entered the country, as Trump and his own network initially did. But they continued to refer to the attacker as an “American citizen,” as if they couldn't 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 attacker Matthew Livelsberger, according to a review of transcripts.

Former Green Beret Jim Hanson called President Biden a “barely animated corpse dazed by dementia.” California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Milan Patterson demanded that all of Trump's nominees “be confirmed immediately” so that the incoming president can more easily accomplish his agenda. Anti-terrorism commentator Aaron Cohen mentioned a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Times Square that day and linked it to the New Orleans attack, stating: “This is not closed. “This is what happens.”

The Fox News I remembered was in full force: froth. Paranoid. Vengeful. Seeking not to inform viewers but to inflame.

But the craziest comment came from former San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy Meagan McCarthy. Earlier in the day, Fox News published, and then retracted, a report that the truck Jabbar used to kill so many people had crossed into the United States from Mexico a few days earlier. After that erroneous article, a flurry of politicians demanded that the southern border be closed, with Trump claiming on social media that “the criminals coming in are much worse than the criminals we have in our country.”

Gallagher aired an interview with New Orleans-area Republican Rep. Steve Scalise, in which Scalise referenced Fox News' original claim about the border crossing.

“We don't know why,” Gallagher told McCarthy. “We don't know what the link is. We are not pointing fingers. “We’re just saying it’s interesting that we’re at this point.”

“Where there is smoke, there is fire,” he responded. “And two things can be true at the same time. “There may be an individual who was infiltrated when he was an American citizen and there may be an issue on the southern border that perhaps influenced this attack.”

That's why McCarthy suggested that the FBI allow the American public “to be part of the investigation,” something I doubt she would have advocated for when she was a deputy sheriff.

“I understand that as a law enforcement officer, you're aware of certain things that you want to keep close to the chest,” he said. “But I think we've seen destruction on our southern border for four years. “We know there is some correlation.”

Gallagher later mentioned a police officer who had commented earlier that day that not going after thieves made it “more difficult to go after the big guys, the bigger criminals.”

McCarthy agreed.

“When I was a police officer, you would make those traffic stops to commit those traffic violations because that would lead to a felony,” he said before adding, “We have to start standing up for people again and not being afraid to offend.” people, and that starts with having some difficult conversations and telling some hard truths.”

From ripping off a Walgreens to a terrorist attack in New Orleans? Fox News used to have another slogan: We report, you decide. With ratings at their highest in a decade and the highest-rated cable network for the ninth year in a row, too many Americans have decided that Fox News' world of complaints is a reality and have voted Fox News into office. fellow true believers.

Fasten your seat belts, everyone else: the next four years are going to be incredible.