Fox News pivots from the earlier Trump line that the coronavirus is a hoax, to "the Democrats are attacking our president!" to finally, some acceptance of a shared reality that this is a real threat to be taken seriously. And they and Fox Business News have decided, at least temporarily, that they have an excess of on-air Trump cheerleaders.
Trish Regan gained some more notoriety earlier this week when she said the amped-up coverage of COVID-19 was nothing more than "yet another attempt to impeach the president."
Source: New York Times
The Fox Business anchor Trish Regan, whose on-air dismissal of the coronavirus as “another attempt to impeach the president” left her cable network facing a firestorm of criticism this week, has been removed from her prime-time slot for the foreseeable future, the network said on Friday.
Ms. Regan’s 8 p.m. program, “Trish Regan Primetime,” is “on hiatus until further notice,” Fox Business said in a statement. The network declined to say if Ms. Regan would continue to appear on its other programs, saying that its coverage plans for the coronavirus crisis remained in flux.
Fox Business attributed the move to “the demands of the evolving pandemic crisis coverage,” saying it was shifting resources toward daytime coverage of the pandemic and global markets. Both “Trish Regan Primetime” and its follow-up at 9, “Kennedy,” will be replaced by general-interest programs.
Still, the abrupt removal of Ms. Regan — a reliably pro-Trump personality who has twice interviewed the president — came as right-wing media stars have faced growing scrutiny for commentary that played down fears about the coronavirus and suggested that the illness had been overhyped by President Trump's critics.
Trish Regan's Fox Business show is "on hiatus until further notice," network tells me, citing a shift in staff resources to "critical market hours."
Regan was widely criticized earlier this week for a monologue calling the coronavirus "another attempt to impeach the president.”— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) March 13, 2020
Regan's hiatus begins Monday. Her opening tonight is a far cry from her hyperpartisan words a few days ago: "Our path forward right now is together -- the left and the right united to fight this crisis.”
— Michael M. Grynbaum (@grynbaum) March 14, 2020
