If President Donald Trump is truly an audience of one, as the saying goes, then for him there's only one stage that matters: Fox News.

Like every other cable news network, conservative-leaning Fox covered the hearing with Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh all day on Thursday, interspersing the lengthy and emotional proceeding with commentary.

If politics is a sport, then this was covered like the Super Bowl, with every small moment analysed for significance. Hosts dubbed the break between the two witnesses' testimonies in the afternoon as “halftime”.

The biggest question hanging over the hearing was how the credibility of Ms Ford and her detailed allegation of sexual assault would stand up against Mr Kavanaugh's denial.

But if the reaction of Fox News hosts were any indication of how conservatives were reacting at large, their shifting tones showed the wild swing in Mr Kavanaugh's fortunes over the course of the day and evinced a strange synergy with the proceedings in the hearing room.

The day began on Fox News with some notable empathy for Ford and her testimony.

Fox News anchor Chris Wallace said that two of his daughters shared with him stories of “things that happened in high school”, and called Ms Ford's testimony “extremely emotional, extremely raw, and extremely credible.”

In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing Show all 21 1 /21 In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 04: Protesters disrupt the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy on the court left by retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Chip Somodevilla Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A member of Code Pink protests as US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh arrives on the first day of his confirmation hearing in front of the US Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on September 4, 2018. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. Some two dozen witnesses are lined up to argue for and against confirming Kavanaugh, who could swing the nine-member high court decidedly in conservatives' favor for years to come. Democrats have mobilized heavily to prevent his approval. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing epa06996310 Circuit judge Brett Kavanaugh prepares to testify before his Senate confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, USA, 04 September 2018. President Trump nominated Kavanaugh to fill the seat of retiring justice Anthony Kennedy. If confirmed, Kavanaugh would give conservatives a five-member majority in the high court. EPA/MICHAEL REYNOLDS MICHAEL REYNOLDS EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 04: Protesters dressed in The Handmaid's Tale costume, protest outside the hearing room where Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy on the court left by retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Win McNamee Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A protester is removed during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. Some two dozen witnesses are lined up to argue for and against confirming Kavanaugh, who could swing the nine-member high court decidedly in conservatives' favor for years to come. Democrats have mobilized heavily to prevent his approval. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A woman stands and voices her opposition to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination for Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 04: Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh arrives for testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy on the court left by retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) Win McNamee Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 04: Protesters disrupt the start of the Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy on the court left by retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Mark Wilson Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A protestor is carried out by security as US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh attends the first day of his confirmation hearing in front of the US Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on September 4, 2018. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. Some two dozen witnesses are lined up to argue for and against confirming Kavanaugh, who could swing the nine-member high court decidedly in conservatives' favor for years to come. Democrats have mobilized heavily to prevent his approval. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A woman stands and voices her opposition to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination for Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, in Washington.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin AP In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A protestor is escorted out of the room as US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh attends the first day of his confirmation hearing in front of the US Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on September 4, 2018. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. Some two dozen witnesses are lined up to argue for and against confirming Kavanaugh, who could swing the nine-member high court decidedly in conservatives' favor for years to come. Democrats have mobilized heavily to prevent his approval. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing U.S. Supreme Court nominee judge Brett Kavanaugh points to his daughters as his wife Ashley looks on before the start of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Chris Wattie CHRIS WATTIE REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A woman protests as US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh arrives on the first day of his confirmation hearing in front of the US Senate on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on September 4, 2018. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. Some two dozen witnesses are lined up to argue for and against confirming Kavanaugh, who could swing the nine-member high court decidedly in conservatives' favor for years to come. Democrats have mobilized heavily to prevent his approval. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing U.S. Capitol police officer lead detained protesters out of the start of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts JOSHUA ROBERTS REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A protester is removed during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. Some two dozen witnesses are lined up to argue for and against confirming Kavanaugh, who could swing the nine-member high court decidedly in conservatives' favor for years to come. Democrats have mobilized heavily to prevent his approval. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A protester is removed during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee judge Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts JOSHUA ROBERTS REUTERS In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing A protester is removed during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court September 4, 2018 in Washington, DC. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. Some two dozen witnesses are lined up to argue for and against confirming Kavanaugh, who could swing the nine-member high court decidedly in conservatives' favor for years to come. Democrats have mobilized heavily to prevent his approval. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski / AFP)BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing epa06996576 A protester is removed as circuit judge Brett Kavanaugh appears before his Senate confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, USA, 04 September 2018. President Trump nominated Kavanaugh to fill the seat of retiring justice Anthony Kennedy. If confirmed, Kavanaugh would give conservatives a five-member majority in the high court. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO JIM LO SCALZO EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing epa06996814 Protesters inside the Hart Senate Office building under arrest as Brett Kavanaugh appears before his Senate confirmation hearing to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, USA, 04 September 2018. President Trump nominated Kavanaugh to fill the seat of retiring justice Anthony Kennedy. If confirmed, Kavanaugh would give conservatives a five-member majority in the high court. EPA/TASOS KATOPODIS TASOS KATOPODIS EPA In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing US Capitol Police arrest a protestor during the US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 4, 2018. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. Some two dozen witnesses are lined up to argue for and against confirming Kavanaugh, who could swing the nine-member high court decidedly in conservatives' favor for years to come. Democrats have mobilized heavily to prevent his approval. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images SAUL LOEB AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Chaos and fury at Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing US Capitol Police arrest a protestor during the US Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the US Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, September 4, 2018. - President Donald Trump's newest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is expected to face punishing questioning from Democrats this week over his endorsement of presidential immunity and his opposition to abortion. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images SAUL LOEB AFP/Getty Images

“This is a disaster for the Republicans,” he said.

If it was a game, it wasn't looking good for the home team, Fox hosts admitted during the break.

Network analysts chimed in to share the opinion, apparently one held by many of the Republican establishment, that the Arizona prosecutor that Republicans had brought in to question Dr Ford had been ineffective.

“I think the Republicans made a grave error not necessarily in choosing Ms Mitchell, but having her craft her questioning as she did,” a network judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano said after Dr Ford's testimony.

The network's chief White House correspondent John Roberts continued to report the White House angle, pointing to “inconsistencies,” and “gaps” in her recollection and questioning whether Ford had presented any evidence.

But by the second half, the network's coverage seemed to evolve in a weird synergy with the hearing.

Mr Kavanaugh's angry and partisan-inflected opening statement, with its strange whiff of conspiracies and a Clinton-orchestrated impropriety, seemed tailor-made for a Fox audience accustomed to such rhetoric from its most popular anchors such as Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.

And the network hosts responded with applause.

“It was exactly what a lot of people were hoping for, wondering, waiting for,” Mr Wallace said during one of the breaks in Mr Kavanaugh's testimony.

“This is raw,” Brit Hume chimed in. “His family has been under attack....I don't think the emotion destroys his credibility, in fact it enhances it.”

Martha MacCullum, the Fox News anchor who interviewed Mr Kavanaugh earlier this week, said that it feels like the “cork got pulled out”.

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Mr Napolitano had wished earlier for Senator Lindsey Graham to do the questioning instead of Ms Mitchell, a call that was echoed by Fox host Laura Ingraham on Twitter.

And midway through Mr Kavanaugh's hearing, the wish was granted. Mr Graham was the first Republican senator to dispense with Mitchell and ask his own questions, delivering a red-faced rant in which he referred to the proceedings an “unethical sham,” and accused Democrats of conspiring to “destroy” Kavanaugh's life.

And by the afternoon, Mr Roberts was calling Mr Kavanaugh's testimony a “game changer”.

“The West Wing is energised,” he said. “The president is very happy with the way that Kavanaugh is comporting himself. ... One official did tell me that since then they think he is a little hot at some points, maybe needs to dial it back a little bit but the president is very happy with how things are going so far.”

Mr Kavanaugh did eventually tone down the open hostility he displayed for much of his hearing.

At points, Republican talking points seemed to slip into the Fox News hosts mouths.

“This explosion of emotion from Judge Kavanaugh, very much acting, behaving like a man who has been unjustly accused,” Mr Wallace noted during one of the last breaks in the hearing.

“I think where they stand is in part stated by Lindsey Graham,” Brett Baier said. “This process is damaged. . . . This is the most egregious example of it that I've ever seen. Judge Kavanaugh is damaged.”

By the end of the day, most of the hosts believed that Mr Kavanaugh had significantly increased his chances significantly to the point of a likely confirmation.

“He has dug himself out of the hole,” Mr Napolitano said. “He has come out swinging as effectively as any human could.”

“I think the bottom line, these allegations were uncorroborated,” Mr Hume said. “Those charges remain uncorroborated. I think that probably leaves room for wavering Republicans to vote high.”

Mr Graham continued to defend himself in an interview aired later on the network.

By the evening, Fox's coverage had turned further to the right. Tucker Carlson aired a segment taking aim at reporters and commentators who had noted that all the Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee were white.

“Why are these morons pushing race conflict on the country when again the story has nothing to do with race?” Tucker asked.

Sean Hannity aired long snippets of Kavanaugh's defences at the top of his show along with text cards like “Zero corroboration” and “The left's smear machine”.

“This has not been about protecting victims or finding the truth...this has all been political,” Mr Hannity said. “Did anybody hear the pain in Brett Kavanaugh's voice today?”

Earlier in the day, Fox News fired contributor Kevin Jackson after he called the women who have accused Mr Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct “skanks”.