The harsh condemnation of Donald Trump expressed by one of The Five co-hosts on Fox News on Friday has led many on social media to believe that the network is distancing itself from the former president in the wake of his latest indictment.
After a pro-Trump tirade against a “weaponized” justice system made by co-host Jeanine Pirro, political strategist Jessica Tarlov, one of the rotating co-hosts on the show and a Fox News contributor since 2017, said that the evidence against the former president was clear.
“There were documents found in the bathroom, in the shower, in the ballroom, in his bedroom, in his office,” Tarlov said. “There were documents pertaining to our nuclear programs, pertaining to our weaknesses and our allies’ weaknesses, what makes us vulnerable—clearly a national security risk.”
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers remarks on June 10, 2023, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Trump spoke during the North Carolina Republican party’s annual state convention two days after becoming the first former U.S. president to be indicted on federal charges.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
On Thursday, a grand jury indicted Trump on 37 counts ranging from willful retention of classified documents to obstruction charges in connection to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) probe into whether he mishandled classified documents after leaving office in January 2021.
Trump has maintained his innocence, saying that documents found at Mar-a-Lago last summer were declassified. He has accused federal prosecutors of investigating him for political reasons.
But Tarlov said that: “What has been proven time and time again when it comes to this particular case is that Donald Trump and his supporters have been lying to us about what happened.”
She continued: “First he went with ‘everything is declassified’ because he’s magic and he can look at things and they become declassified. Now he’s on tape admitting the fact that he’s showing people […] a document that was still classified and that he knows that he doesn’t have the power to declassify anymore because he’s no longer president.”
When interrupted by the other co-hosts joking about the fact that finding classified documents in a bathroom is better than finding them in a Corvette—referring to classified documents found in President Joe Biden’s personal garage in January—Tarlov accused her colleagues of “misdirection.”
She also deflected her colleagues’ attempts to compare Trump’s case with that of Hillary Clinton, who was found in 2016 to have used her private email while she was secretary of state.
“This has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton,” she said. “If you want to argue about the difference between gross negligence and extremely careless, a lot of people have that conversation. But today you’re looking at boxes of classified documents strewn across a public place.”
The stance taken by Tarlov, which went against all four other hosts on The Five, Fox News’ most watched show, attracted the attention of many on social media saying that the network has fallen out of love with the former president and is warning Republicans that the latest indictment is bad for Trump.
“HOLY S***, when you lose Fox News,” wrote a Twitter user, sharing a clip of Tarlov’s speech that has been watched over 500,000 times.
“Every ride or die Republican hanging on until the wheels fall off needs to listen to this,” commented another user. “THE WHEELS ARE ABOUT TO COME OFF!”
“Fox News viewers just got a dose of reality,” tweeted another. “Real America is energized by knowing THIS happened on Fox, who is still stung by their $787M nightmare payout for lying. This woman read the indictment. Most Republicans won’t.”
Fox News viewers just got a dose of reality. Real America is energized by knowing THIS happened on Fox, who is still stung by their $787M nightmare payout for lying. This woman read the indictment. Most Republicans won’t. pic.twitter.com/Wm5jGD9sDz
— BigBlueWaveUSA® 🇺🇸🌊🇺🇦 (@BigBlueWaveUSA) June 11, 2023
Trump is expected to be arraigned at a Miami courthouse on Tuesday.
Newsweek has contacted Fox News for comment.
Source : Newsweek