The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple noted a less obvious benefit that Fox News confers on Trump when it airs his rallies: He can lie and smear with abandon.
As of July 6, Media Matters estimated that Fox has gifted Trump with more than $15 million in free airtime since April 28. Fox responded in a statement to the Associated Press, “The president makes news whenever he speaks, and in this nonstop news cycle, there are constant headlines for President Trump to react to.” The rallies are also good for ratings, AP noted.
But Wemple points out that Fox is doing Trump a big solid that goes beyond the oodles of free airtime:
For most presidents, [Fox’s] rationale might just work. In the case of Trump, though, it collapses under the stress of mendacity. The Post’s Fact Checker has observed an intensification of false and misleading claims from the president. As Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star Daniel Dale wrote on June 26: “The frequency of U.S. President Donald Trump’s dishonesty had steadily accelerated since late last year. Then, last week, it skyrocketed.” After just one rally in North Dakota, three PolitiFact researchers spent 1,300 words reviewing eight dubious Trump statements. The New York Times counted 18 inaccurate claims from the Montana rally last week. According to The Post, Trump clocked in with 35 false or misleading claims at a May rally in Nashville.
Poppycock at such a volume is simply too much for live television. It’s impossible to refute all the lies and misstatements as they’re uttered, and no one will stay tuned as anchors and correspondents plow through all the refutations after the fact.
That’s a fringe benefit money can’t buy.
(Trump caricature by DonkeyHotey via his Flickr photostream under Creative Commons license. The caricature was adapted from a Creative Commons licensed photo by Gage Skidmore's Flickr photostream.)