Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is once again at odds over how to cover Donald Trump and his recently enacted tariffs, which are roiling the markets and threatening global trade.
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal editorial board continued to sound the alarm on Trump’s self-inflicted trade war, publishing an editorial titled, “How Tariff Damage Spreads, Auto Edition.” The piece expressed deep concern about the current market volatility resulting from the administration’s economic policy, adding that “one certainty is that his tariffs will inflict sweeping and hard to predict costs on businesses and consumers,” using the auto industry as a case study.
Meanwhile, over on Fox News, viewers of early to midday programming saw similar pushback over the tariff strategy, including from Fox Business senior correspondent Charlie Gasparino, who told Martha MacCallum on Monday that “Wall Street is freaked out right now” over the volatility of the markets. Allianz chief economic adviser Mohamed El-Erian also made an appearance on MacCallum’s show, criticizing the administration’s strategy as a “very bumpy journey and one that increases the risk of downside to the economy.”
However, during the primetime hours, network hosts, administration officials, and other guests stood firm on beating the Trump drum, defending the president for his tariff plan and arguing that concern over the financial market nosedive is being oversold.
Laura Ingraham focused her primetime show Monday on what she considers to be unwarranted panic, saying, “Sometimes the frenzy is so over the top it’s cartoonish.” Accompanying Ingraham’s monologue was a clip of Disney’s Chicken Little, panicking that the “sky is falling.” Afterwards, she played a supercut of CNN and MSNBC segments where hosts including Dana Bash and Ari Melber expressed intense worry about the economic strain this could put on the country, comparing their commentary to the exaggerated cartoon. “This, of course, is absurd,” Ingraham said, even while acknowledging that the gyrations of the market— which she noted was “down as much as 16,000 points at one point today”—were “jarring to watch and feel.”
Later, White House senior advisor Peter Navarro joined Ingraham, parroting talking points from the administration and reiterating that panic is not necessary. He promised that there would be “no recession” and no inflation resulting from the trade wars.
During his primetime show, Jesse Watters asked podcaster Patrick Bet-David whether he was a “Panican,” a phrase Trump has used in an attempt to diminish the value of widely expressed market concern. “No, I’m just happy the fact that he’s coming through on the promises that he made,” Bet-David replied, pointing to moments on the campaign trail when Trump made his intentions clear. “It’s going to be a whole new standard for the American people.” During his show, Watters also mocked CNBC’s Jim Cramer, who warned that the tariff would cause a “Black Monday,” saying, “Those crying on CNBC are the same ones who were happy to shut down the entire economy for a virus with a 99% survival rate.”
But as Fox News holds steady on towing the Trump line, even the president’s favorite Murdoch-owned newspaper, the New York Post, called for Trump to stop the “tariff meltdown” and “start talking trade deals.” In a Monday piece, the Post’s editorial board claimed the president has “the world in a panic”—a clear attempt to signal to the White House that negotiating with the EU and others will save the U.S. economy. “Mr. President,” the Post wrote, “take ‘yes’ for an answer.”