The Ethical Dilemma of Lara Trump At Fox News
The links between TrumpWorld and Fox News are — how does one put it? — complicated.
Lara Trump is now officially a Fox News Contributor, which presents some big ethical issues for the twenty-four year old network. “I sort of feel like I’ve been an unofficial member of the team for so long,” is how Trump put it on ‘Fox & Friends’ on Monday morning. Mrs. Trump, former President Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, was welcomed as a paid contributor for Fox News on the show. Trump, a North Carolina native, creates an ethical quandary (or not) in that she has not yet decided on whether or not to jump into the North Carolina Senate race to replace Richard Burr, who is not running again in 2022.
Mrs. Trump’s resume is pretty thin for either position, outside of her familial connections. But familial connections are, after all, the building blocks of dynasties.
above: From Mary Trump’s Too Much and Never Enough via Michael Cohen
Lara Trump was an Associate Producer at Inside Edition before taking off the last two months of the 2016 Presidential election to campaign in North Carolina for her father-in-law. Before that, she went to culinary school.
The links between TrumpWorld and Fox News are — how does one put it? — complicated. Sean Hannity is a close personal friend of the former President. Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive, spent nine months as Communications Director in the Trump administration. Hope Hicks, one of the former President’s closest advisors, joined Fox Corporate PR before returning to the White House. And John Bolton, formerly a darling contributor to Fox News, found himself on the outs at the ethno-nationalist network after he turned against his former boss.
But Fox News has had some ethical guardrails with regards to TrumpWorld. The revolving door between TrumpWorld and Fox News usually closes when an employee considers an independent political campaign. As The Hollywood Reporter reminds us:
Fox News typically cuts ties with employees and contributors once they officially announce their candidacy. Most recently, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former White House press secretary, announced her intention to run for governor of Arkansas, with the channel cutting her loose at the same time.
Lara Trump’s elevation effectively reverses that unofficial policy. And it begs the question — just what is Fox News? Is it a “news” organization, or is it a political organization? Is Fox, as a news organization, holding people, business, and the government responsible and accountable for their actions and decisions? Or is it — as the “loyal opposition” to President Biden — a strategic placeholder for Trump’s dynastic ambitions? Or is it some journo-politico hybrid in between, neither fish nor foul?
Whatever the answers, one cannot imagine Rupert Murdoch ever being so introspective about the true nature of his influence and moneymaker. Still, that doesn’t mean that we as democrats — small “d,” of course— should not wonder after these questions. And their answers.