“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” has long been the anthem to Donald Trump triumphantly walking off stage after his rallies.
But the ex-president’s entire political career, the modern Republican Party and a vast conservative media empire are based on the exact opposite premise of the Rolling Stones’ song: giving the party base exactly what it wants to hear – whether it is true or not.
Fox News is the latest example of opinion formers on the right exposed for being held hostage to the fury they helped to incite. Extraordinary revelations this week from a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems showed that Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch admitted under oath that some of the channel’s top stars endorsed false claims that the 2020 election was stolen as he tried to stop viewers from defecting. Previous disclosures showed some of those Fox hosts knew they were peddling lies but were worried they’d alienate their audience if they told the truth about Trump’s false claims.
The new details underscored how key players on the right feel they have no choice but to appease, satisfy and further inflame the voters and viewers on whom their profits or hopes of political power depend.
The GOP’s most fervent, constantly self-radicalizing voters have long led its leaders. GOP luminaries who resist the tide, like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, ex-Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, see their careers expire. Those that buy in – like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, now a member of the House GOP leadership team – can rocket to prominence.
But such a strategy can risk being turned into a Faustian bargain.
In Fox’s case, Murdoch’s testimony left the network in serious legal jeopardy and shredded its journalistic reputation.
Some media commentators would argue…
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