How Fox News spun humiliating Wisconsin loss to make Trump look good
Fox News is attempting to spin the Republican loss in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election as a repudiation of Elon Musk—not President Donald Trump. But both men share the blame.
During an interview Wednesday with conservative legal pundit Jeffrey Toobin on “Fox & Friends,” co-host Steve Doocy offered up the tortured explanation.
“Brooke [Singman] had that soundbite where Democrats in Wisconsin say this is a referendum on Donald Trump and on Elon Musk. That’s not the way it was presented,” Doocy said. “The Democrats ran against Elon Musk, they said he’s the world’s richest man and he can’t buy an election, so it wasn’t about Trump as much as it was about Musk.”
But Doocy’s argument is nonsensical.
Musk became a flashpoint during the race, which was won by Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford, because he has been empowered by Trump.
After donating millions to Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign, Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency were granted power to assail multiple federal agencies. Musk has become a political wrecking ball because of the power Trump gave him.
It is the growth of that alliance that emboldened Musk to spend millions on the Wisconsin race, backing conservative Brad Schimel through his America PAC. Musk even traveled to Wisconsin to pay voters millions of dollars to support Schimel, who Trump also endorsed.
The loss was a repudiation of both men from a public that has become increasingly fed up with their actions and the harm they have been causing.
Before Doocy’s statement, it was clear that “Fox & Friends” did not want to discuss the Wisconsin election results. The program, which often sets the agenda at Fox and has frequently been cited by Trump as a favorite, didn’t even address the election until nearly thirty minutes in.
Instead, the segment led with news about Trump’s tariff plans and surveillance footage of a woman vandalizing a Tesla, rather than acknowledging the Wisconsin blowout. In all likelihood, a Republican victory would have been at the top of the program.
Fox News is often used as a megaphone for Trump. In fact, the ties are so close between Trump and the network that if Musk has to be thrown under the bus to make Trump look good, that’s a road that Fox will happily take.