Fox News are working tirelessly to amplify Donald Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric, Media Matters finds

Fox News was responsible for more than 25 per cent of cable news broadcasts covering Donald Trump’s anti-trans executive orders, research has revealed.

The right-wing news network spent more than four hours between 20 January and 19 February 2025 covering the president’s executive orders aimed at trans rights, including healthcare access and the ability to serve in the US military.

According to news-monitoring not-for-profit organisation MediaMatters, during Trump’s first month back in the White House, Fox News devoted almost double the coverage of MSNBC and CNN combined.

A majority of the broadcasts were in opinion segments, with just 97 minutes falling under news programmes.

Among the segments was a broadcast on 22 January which spread a false rumour that LGBTQ+ people had begun calling cisgender women “non-transgender women”.

Another broadcast, on 30 January, involved a panel of regular personalities spreading anti-trans misinformation and transphobic rhetoric. The channel also spent a total of two hours and 31 minutes discussing why people should support a ban on transgender women playing women’s sports.

Trump’s ban on gender-affirming care for under-18s was given 31 minutes of coverage, while the trans military ban got 25 minutes.

Just 14 per cent of the eight hours of segments on the executive orders across MSNBC, CNN and Fox News featured a trans or gender-non-conforming person. CNN had seven guests, while MSNBC had four. Fox gave time to only one: vocal Trump supporter Caitlyn Jenner.

Fox News’ continued vilification of trans people is at odds with the organisation’s findings in a 2023 poll, which revealed that 83 per cent of US voters think the hatred towards transgender men and women has gone too far.

Data from a survey of 1,004 registered voters as part of the Fox News poll also showed that LGBTQ+ rights aren’t a priority for most US adults, with the majority more concerned about the job market and the economy.

Only one per cent of those who responded thought transgender issues were a significant problem in the US.

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