It’s a safe bet that no American president in history watched as much television as Donald Trump. What was his favorite thing to watch? Fox News. During his single term, he would reportedly get caught in an echo chamber, making decision based on what he saw on the news network, watch how they covered the actions based on what they said, rinse repeat, for four years. He was so close that some of their stars even texted him during the Capitol siege he helped foment. But not everyone in the White House was a fan of his Fox News bingeing.
As per The Washington Post (in a bit teased out by Raw Story), the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 recently sat down with Stephanie Grisham, former White House press secretary, who’s made no bones about coddling Trump since he left office. Among the intel she dropped was how staffers reacted to Trump using Fox News as inspiration for policy.
“There were times the president would come down the next morning and say, ‘Well, Sean thinks we should do this,’ or, ‘Judge Jeanine thinks we should do this,’” Grisham revealed. “West Wing staffers would simply roll their eyes in frustration as they scrambled to respond to the influence of the network’s hosts, who weighed in on everything from personnel to messaging strategy.”
One former staffer, speaking under anonymity, said that Trump would have certain Fox News stars participate in policy discussions with his staff, including Sean Hannity and Lou Dobbs.
In the year since leaving office, Trump has turned on Fox News multiple times, even roasting Sean Hannity, his best friend at the network. But he never stays mad at them for long.