The Iran war continues to fracture right-wing media as prices keep going up.
Right-wing media figures call to strip citizenship from large swaths of Americans.
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This week's infighting
Callers into Megyn Kelly’s show are frustrated with Trump’s economy, and they’re voicing their anger on her show. One caller said people “want [Trump] to focus on America’s needs and wants and gas prices and housing and the economy, and he’s not doing that.” We’ve collected other examples from Kelly’s show which you can find here.
Tim Poolsaid GOP Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s support for H-1B visas is “indefensible.”
Podcaster Shawn Ryancriticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the immunity that is being granted for pesticide companies.
Trump’s latest surgeon general nominee, Nicole Saphier (a Fox News medical contributor and podcast host) reportedly deleted social media posts with commentary critical of the Trump administration’s health-related policy and messaging. She pushed similar rhetoric on her podcast and Fox News.
While local media cover the impacts of rising gas prices, Fox personalities minimize Americans’ pain at the pump
Citation
Fox 2 Detroit
President Donald Trump’s war with Iran has caused oil prices to skyrocket, sending gas prices soaring. Local media outlets throughout the country have spotlighted the impact rising prices have on the lives of Americans. Fox News, however, has downplayed the pain.
Local news outlets have covered the pain at the pump, highlighting how rising fuel costs are impacting local schools, rideshare drivers, and the trucking industry, among other things. Some stations talked to Americans who are having to cut back on travel, entertainment, and even groceries. Two examples are noteworthy:
Food delivery services for seniors, such as Meals on Wheels, are struggling as gas prices rise. Local news has been showing the effects the higher prices are having on these programs. An anchor for Arkansas’ K8 News said, “Not only gas prices are rising, but also food prices, which is currently impacting one of Arkansas's most vulnerable groups hard — our seniors.”
Pertinent to this week, local news stations are warning that rising fuel costs may drive up the price of Mother’s Day bouquets as florists deal with the impact on their businesses. A Kansas City florist said, “I am looking at all kinds of extra fuel charges which increases the price of the flower on top of tariffs that we already have. So yeah, it's a problem, it's a problem. It's expensive.”
Meanwhile, Fox News personalities have said rising prices are “no big deal” and reminding their audience that oil companies in the U.S. “are actually benefiting from this.”
It’s not just high gas prices hurting Americans right now. High diesel and fertilizer costs resulting from the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran are forcing farmers to raise prices and reduce yearly fertilizer purchases. Local media outlets and agriculture trade publicans are sounding the alarm on this crisis.
Media Matters is collecting examples of local media covering higher fuel prices. I invite you to check out our many examples here.
This week in stupid
Newsmax’s Greg Kellysaid the “hysteria” about high gas prices is “artificial.”
Fox Business’ Larry Kudlow said that gasoline price spike we’re going through right now “really isn’t doing all that much harm.”
Benny Johnson calledHantavirus “an op to rig elections.”
Iran war continues to split right-wing media as the war drives prices up
Citation
Molly Butler / Media Matters
As Donald Trump’s war in Iran passes the two-month mark, the United States is heading towards a strategic defeat. According to a new U.S. intelligence assessment, the war has not changed “the time Iran would need to build a nuclear weapon.” Recall that this was touted by Trump’s Fox lackeys as a key justification for the war, and the reason why the war’s costs are “a small price to pay.”
The supposedly “small price to pay” for the war includes rising fuel prices, as we discussed in the above section, but also the $25 billion price tag for the war that a Pentagon analyst gave this week. Fox News and Fox Business spent just 8 minutes of combined coverage discussing that price tag.
Meanwhile, right-wing and right-leaning media remain sharply divided over the Iran war, with many figures either slamming Trump for his “insane” conduct or arguing that continued hostilities are “far more important than just politics.” Some figures are even criticizing each other for their positions on the war.
Excuse me?
Fox joined with the Trump administration to celebrate as millions of Americans are kicked off food stamps as a result of the Republican legislation known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
After the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, Benny Johnson suggested the Trump administration “should go full speed ahead in bringing the full force of the federal government against these DEI districts.” He also condemned the Republican “cowards” in South Carolina and Georgia for not redrawing the states’ congressional maps. Meanwhile, Fox’s Sean Hannity said the court’s decision “could secure a majority for the GOP in the midterms.”
Right-wing media spent months claiming that Trump’s new White House ballroom would not cost the taxpayers a penny. Congressional Republicans are now proposing $1 billion in taxpayer money to secure it.
Right-wing media figures call to strip citizenship from large swaths of Americans
Citation
Andrea Austria / Media Matters
Right-wing media figures are pushing to revoke U.S. citizenship from some naturalized Americans, including Muslims and some elected officials. At the same time, The Trump administration is ramping up its denaturalization efforts.
Denaturalization has historically been a rare occurrence, and is typically only used in cases in which there is proof that a person was naturalized when they were not eligible or if a person misrepresented or concealed information during the naturalization process that would disqualify them from U.S. citizenship. But in June 2025, the Department of Justice released a policy memo expanding the administration’s “priorities for denaturalization.” This move is precisely what a lot of right-wing media figures have been pushing for years.
Last year we sounded the alarm on right-wing media's campaign to denaturalize American citizens. Now, what we warned about is happening.
Media Matters’ Isabella Sherk and Torri Lonergan wrote this great piece detailing the right-wing denaturalization push.
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