Copyright inquisitr
Fox News spent a few beats chuckling at Donald Trump, then pivoted to back him up with polling. On America Reports, anchors John Roberts and Gillian Turner played a clip of Trump blaming Democrats for the shutdown fight and nearly everything else, and Turner admitted she “got a chuckle” out of his sweeping blame. “He also said, quote, ‘everything is their fault.’ I don’t know. I got to chuckle out of that,” she said, as Roberts looked on. Trump had given them plenty to react to. “It’s their fault. Everything is their fault. It’s so easily solved,” he insisted while casting Democrats as the obstacle to reopening the government. He argued Republicans were “very unified” and “want to do what’s right for the country,” and he folded in a familiar refrain on immigration and spending. Then came the on-air swerve after Turner’s laugh, Roberts pointed to data that he said cut in Trump’s favor, telling viewers that polling shows “more people are on the side of Republicans than are on side of Democrats,” and that pressure was beginning to build on Democrats. That posture echoed a string of recent TV segments noting a small but real GOP bump amid the shutdown standoff. CNN’s Harry Enten told viewers that the Republican brand had “actually improved somewhat compared to where we were pre-shutdown,” adding that net approval for congressional Republicans was “up five points since pre-shutdown.” Trump also revived his long-running attack on the Affordable Care Act as Democrats demanded an extension of expiring subsidies in any funding deal. “Obamacare has turned out to be a disaster, as I’ve been saying for years. It can be fixed or redone,” he said, claiming people do not “get good health care” and that premiums keep rising. A separate Truth Social post hammered the same point, “OBAMACARE IS A DISASTER! Rates are going through the roof for really bad healthcare!!!” The split screen tells the story as Trump casts Democrats as saboteurs, repeats that “everything” is their fault, and knocks Obamacare, while Fox’s daytime anchors let themselves laugh for a beat before quickly reframing the moment with data that suggests Republicans are not paying a political price for the stalemate. Turner’s “chuckle” remark, followed by Roberts’ pivot to polling, became a microcosm of how the network often processes Trump — a flash of distance, then a course correction. Outside Fox, broader coverage has documented the same dynamics. Trump continues pressing his case and blaming Democrats as the shutdown drags on, and polls have shown scattered signs that, while voters largely dislike the standoff, Republicans in Congress have not suffered the instant collapse many expected. Enten called the GOP’s modest lift “surprising,” underscoring why Republicans may feel little urgency to fold. In other words, the laugh was real, the U-turn was quick, and the message to viewers was clear: Trump’s rhetoric can sound over the top, but for now, the numbers aren’t punishing his party. For a network that still leans heavily on Trump-era viewers, that balancing act remains the house style.
