Donald Trump’s irrational decision to declare a state of emergency to deal with unchanged immigration patterns along the United States' southern border is deeply unpopular with the American people. That's one reason why the desperate maneuver is being met with groans from members of the Republican Party.
"It's impulsive," it's not a "good idea," and it’s “wrong,” Republicans are complaining. So who’s to blame for the party's latest Trump-induced debacle? Fox News, of course. Once seen as the Republican Party's best communications friend, Fox News is now slowly devouring the GOP.
The truth is that, for years, lots of Democrats likely looked longingly at the unique political relationship between the GOP and Fox News. While they despised the constant misinformation, Democrats could see the clear political advantages Fox News provided by working as the Republican Party's free national cheerleaders. Today, lots of Democrats probably look at what has become a deeply toxic and dysfunctional relationship between the two and think, “There but for the grace of God go we.”
A working tandem that once produced extraordinary benefits for the Republican Party in terms of relentless and free messaging carried by Fox News has now become an albatross. The cable channel, at least when it comes to Trump's border wall fantasy, essentially holds the GOP hostage. Fox News this year has made it almost impossible for the party to move beyond Trump's absurd vision of $5 billion in federal funding for a 200-mile wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for. It’s very likely that you can't find three Republican U.S. senators who will privately admit to caring about the wall and whether it ever gets built. Yet Fox News continues to treat the topic like the moon landing.
This has resulted in the recent two-month charade over government shutdown talks, with Republicans willing to make a spending deal with Democrats, but Trump unable to get permission from a handful of Fox News hosts to sign off because of the lack of funding for the wall.
The latest absurd twist involves Trump inventing out of whole cloth the need for a "national emergency" to deal with everyday immigration. That's a move that will likely be met with a legal challenge, and the whole border wall drama will drag on and on, much to the consternation of Republicans in Congress. To understand how destructive the relationship has become, let's look back at how the Fox News-GOP romance unfolded.
When the channel first went on the air in 1996, it proudly presented a conservative spin on the news. But compared to today's mindlessly partisan and dishonest programming on Fox, the network back then was comparatively respectable. Then came the Florida presidential election recount in 2000, followed in quick succession by 9/11 and the Iraq War. With each watershed event, Fox News became more and more of a heavy-handed instrument of the GOP, not only pushing its agenda, but gleefully waging wars on the party's enemies. Note that the chain of command back then was clear: The Republican White House under George W. Bush dictated the GOP talking points. Those were then relayed to Fox News, which provided untold hours of free programming for the party. It was a classic win-win scenario for both sides. (And that's the one Democrats were likely jealous of.)
Fast forward a decade, though, and the power balance has been reversed. It's now Fox News that calls the shots, and the GOP White House finds itself in a reactive mode. That's because Trump remains a deeply insecure man who apparently cannot handle being criticized within the bubble-like confines of the right-wing media.
In other words, Republicans long ago made a deal with Rupert Murdoch's cable “news” devil. Today, payment is due. Trump and Fox News continue to do long-term damage not only to the U.S., but to the GOP as well.
Eric Boehlert is a veteran progressive writer and media analyst, formerly with Media Matters and Salon. He is the author of Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush and Bloggers on the Bus. You can follow him on Twitter @EricBoehlert.
This post was written and reported through our Daily Kos freelance program.