After years of marching in lockstep with the more extremist elements of the GOP and former Republican President Donald Trump, a rift seems to be forming between Fox News and Trump and his remaining enablers.
After the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) served a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago—Trump's Florida home turned resort—the Trump camp went on the offensive, attacking the integrity and authority of the federal law enforcement agency and the Department of Justice (DoJ).
Those members of Congress still loyal to Trump did the same.
However when Republican House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana took that message to Fox News morning program Fox & Friends, he got pushback from longtime host Steve Doocy.
You can see Scalise and Doocy clash here:
Doocy kept the pressure on Scalise to justify his fellow Republicans' unsupported attacks on the FBI.
On Thursday, Doocy called out Republican Representatives Paul Gosar of Arizona and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, saying:
"...there are a of people online and elsewhere who are demonizing the FBI."
After noting increased threats against law enforcement in the wake of GOP attacks on the FBI, Doocy asked Scalise:
"I’m just curious, whatever happened to the Republican Party backing the blue?"
"And, in particular, the [35,000] members of law enforcement, federal law enforcement, at the FBI?"
The Louisiana politician tried to justify his party's actions, saying:
"...it concerns everybody if you see some agents go rogue."
Scalise added:
"[The FBI] doesn’t have the right checks and balances at the top."
But Doocy pushed back hard, asking Scalise to provide facts instead of Trump serving rhetoric.
"Steve [Scalise], who went rouge?"
"They were following a search warrant."
Ignoring the direct question, Scalise indicated a full investigation of the FBI and DoJ was needed.
@MackNJeeves/Twitter
While people were surprised by Fox News' split from Trump and his agenda, they still criticized the network for amplifying, legitimizing and enabling him for years.
People admired the sentiment from Doocy, but not always the messenger or the medium.
The exact reason for the search has not been revealed publicly, but the DoJ and several press organizations have petitioned the court to unseal the records. Trump was issued a full copy of the warrant but has chosen not to make it public or disclose information to the GOP.
The New York Times speculated it may be related to classified documents Trump removed from the White House and brought with him to his semi-public resort—which offers paid memberships to the public but also can be rented as an event space.
In 2018, Trump himself signed legislation strengthening the penalties for mishandling classified documents.
Scalise and GOP leadership are calling for a full investigation of the FBI and DoJ over the Mar-a-Lago search, but they didn't demand one after Trump returned at least some if not all of the documents he removed from the White House.
It was also noted GOP congressional leadership opposed any investigation into the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot that resulted in at least five deaths, over 100 injuries to law enforcement and millions of dollars in damages.
Whether the GOP gets their investigation into the latest investigation of Donald Trump remains to be seen.
