Explosive new testimony on the Trump-Ukraine scandal emerged from the first public impeachment hearing on Wednesday.

That posed a problem for Fox News – Donald Trump’s favorite TV channel and a fervent defender of the president. The network responded accordingly, deploying a heady mix of discrediting commentary and, at points, audience gaslighting as it sought to exonerate Trump from the start.

When Bill Taylor began his testimony, Fox News threw up some text on screen, nominally giving background information on the acting US ambassador to Ukraine.

The source of Fox News’ information on him: Donald Trump.

“President Trump dismissed Taylor as a ‘never Trumper’,” Fox News reminded its viewers. It added: “White House called Taylor’s closed-door testimony ‘triple hearsay’.”

fox's graphic for bill taylor vs. msnbc's graphic



you already know how this is gonna play out pic.twitter.com/Xv28fiaMJY — Danielle Misiak (@DanielleMisiak) November 13, 2019

If it seems unusual to use the subject of the impeachment hearing as the oracle on that hearing’s witnesses, well, welcome to Fox News.

Introducing Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House intelligence committee and the master of ceremonies on Wednesday, Fox News again provided some handy information for its viewers. The source, again, was Trump, who has accused Schiff of treason.



When Taylor testified – for the first time – that one of his staffers had overheard Trump asking about “the investigations” in Ukraine, Fox News switched tack. As other news outlets hastily rewrote news stories and splashed up headlines, Fox was busy assuring its viewers that, well, there was simply nothing to see here.

Taylor dropped a new bombshell during his testimony, here's how Fox described it



Martha Mac: "Bill Taylor's testimony only really changed from what we saw in the manuscript *a bit.* He added one conversation." pic.twitter.com/wNWGVNAVjs — Lis Power (@LisPower1) November 13, 2019

After Taylor and George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state, wrapped up their opening statements, it was time for the hearing proper to begin.

Adam Schiff cleared his throat and began questioning the men at the center of the first public impeachment hearing in a generation.

As the world watched with bated breath, Fox News used this moment to cut to an ad break, a Muppets-themed advertisement dancing across the screen as other news channels showed Schiff officially kicking off the inquiry.

Here’s how Fox News is covering the impeachment hearing pic.twitter.com/Yexa7J8E12 — NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 13, 2019



With the hearing more or less confirming reports already out there about the Trump-Ukraine scandal, Fox News was more or less reduced to these production and editing tactics in its bid to please the incumbent in the White House.

When the network cut back to the studio, its hosts couldn’t muster much of a response. Bret Baier reckoned, spuriously, that the Republican committee member Jim Jordan had “really hit home” with his questioning. Chris Wallace, among the less partisan Fox News hosts, conceded Taylor “had been an effective witness”.

It fell to Dana Perino, White House press secretary under George W Bush turned professional Fox News guest, to recycle a talking point from the Robert Mueller Trump-Russia investigation: that all this was expensive.

A “ticker” should be erected in Times Square, Perino said, showing “how much this is costing the American people”. She was going through the outrage motions, but her heart wasn’t really in it.

So by Fox News’ standards, this coverage was relatively sober.

Of course, the channel will really bare its teeth tonight, when the professionally outraged Tucker Carlson and the Trump bootshiner Sean Hannity take to the air.