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Democrats are wondering if they should engage with Fox News amid President Trump's attacks on the conservative news network

  • "As Joe Biden assumes the responsibilities of the presidency, his press operation is already being asked to confront a perennial debate: What, exactly, should it do about Fox News?" report The Daily Beast's Sam Stein and Maxwell Tani. "The cable news behemoth has vexed prior Democratic administrations, darting between acting as the voice of the opposition and a legitimate news outlet with the nation’s largest audience. But a series of recent developments—including growing animosity between President Donald Trump and some of the more straight-faced personalities at Fox News—has changed the dynamics of this particular political-media nexus. And it has sparked a renewed argument among Biden allies and White House veterans about how and whether he should engage the network more fully." Former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg -- who has gone viral with his Fox News appearances -- thinks Biden officials should engage with Fox News, but not the opinion shows. “If they believe these 70 million people are evil, then our country is not going to make it," says Buttigieg. "If, on the other hand, you believe they’re largely working from different information, or so-called information, than the rest of us, then the real problem is not the character of the voters as it is the nature of the information that’s getting to them. Then we have a responsibility to try and change the information they receive.” Former Obama spokesperson Tommy Vietor, however, thinks Biden should treat Fox News like it's an arm of the Republican party. Vietor explained that this didn’t mean never engaging with the network. But “I don’t think Joe Biden should sit down with Bret Baier,” he added, “that’s an insane waste of time.”

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    • Fox News' identity crisis: Embrace Trump election conspiracy theories or reject them and lose viewers?: "Viewers of Fox News can be forgiven if they are confused about the results of the 2020 election. The reason for their confusion is less defensible," says Colby Hall. "Fox News has projected Joe Biden to have won the election— well, its news division has. Simultaneously, the network’s top-rated opinion hosts have continued to entertain the increasingly loony conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from Trump through widespread voter fraud. They have been careful in their words, but the near-constant amplification of baseless allegations of a rigged or stolen election has lent credibility to the InfoWars-esque conspiracy theories being touted by Trump. The same theories mocked behind closed doors are being laughed out of courtrooms. The growing disconnect between the two sides of Fox News programming reveals its current identity crisis and raises a question about their immediate future. Do they want to be a news outlet where facts, as disappointing as they may be, are paramount? Or an information entertainment company that today solely acts as cheerleaders for outgoing President Donald Trump?"
    • Fox & Friends hosts squabble over coronavirus rules: This morning, "Steve Doocy and Ainsley Earhardt had to repeatedly talk Brian Kilmeade off the ledge from telling viewers that any and all restrictions to protect them from COVID-19 were nonsense," according to The Daily Beast.
    • Fox News segment goes haywire when a guest's Zoom camera crashes to the floor

    TOPICS: Fox News Channel, FOX & Friends, Biden Presidency, Cable News, Trump Presidency