Fox News announced the hiring of President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who recently served as co-chair of the Republican Party. The move continues to erode the nearly invisible line separating Trump, the GOP, and the television network.
She will host the show, called “My View with Lara Trump,” on Saturdays, which is one of the least-watched days in cable news. Scheduling her at this time indicates that Fox News is more interested in having the Trump family on its payroll than any serious news coverage.
“She is very talented and is a strong, effective communicator with great potential as a host,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott gushed in an email to The New York Times.
Lara generated some headlines during the 2024 election cycle when she described Trump’s abortion bans as a “niche” issue, despite the millions of Americans who are still struggling with the fallout.
After the election, her name was floated as a possible appointee to the Senate seat left vacant by Marco Rubio, who now serves as secretary of state. But she ultimately took her name out of contention—though many believed she was never going to be selected anyway.
Fox News founder and owner Rupert Murdoch
The announcement coincided with a Monday meeting at the White House between Fox News founder and owner Rupert Murdoch and President Trump, who told reporters he had “great respect” for the media mogul despite the multiple scandals that have plagued his media empire for years, including hacking the telephone of a murdered teenager for tabloid scoops.
While Trump and Fox News have always been close (he was once a regular contributor to “Fox & Friends,” where he promoted anti-Obama conspiracies), Lara’s hiring further erodes the network’s claims of legitimacy as a news organization.
Lara’s hiring was also something of a revolving-door move by the network, since she was previously employed by Fox News as a paid contributor beginning in 2021. She also hosted a podcast in recent years, which is a preview of the sort of incendiary commentary that’s likely coming soon to Fox.
On the podcast, Lara claimed that public health measures during the height of the coronavirus pandemic were evidence of “totalitarian rule,” called gender transition surgery “mutilating your body,” promoted fake stories about children using litter boxes in schools, and pushed the racist “great replacement” conspiracy that alleges that Latinx immigrants will replace white people.
Perhaps most worrisome for her new employer is that Trump was a diehard believer in 2020 election conspiracy theories. Echoing his lies, Lara said that there was “widespread fraud” after Joe Biden won and accused Democrats of working to “rig” the election. Fox News had to pay out nearly $800 million after being sued for promoting these election conspiracies.
The network must expect its latest nepotism hire to pay out handsomely if it’s willing to put her on camera every week despite espousing such long-debunked views.
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