Welcome back to Media Matters’ weekly newsletter. This week:
Polls show that Hispanic voters are poised to be a key swing voter demographic in the midterms. Spanish-language right-wing mediaillustrates what is going on, with harsh criticism of the administration’s “cruel approach” to immigration, the termination of temporary protected status for many migrants, the economy, and the war in Iran.
Right-wing media figures demanded immigration action against Rep. Ilhan Omar — then the Department of Homeland Security raided her home.
Fox News is spending way more time attacking Democratic and independent Senate candidates than supporting Republican candidates in 10 key races.
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This week's infighting
After U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned amid reports of “improper and possibly illegal conduct,” including “offering to use her influence inside the Republican administration in return for the payment of a large credit card bill,” Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly said Donald Trump “did not appreciate her trying to make money off the Trump presidency. Only he gets to do that.”
A caller to Megyn Kelly’s showsaid, “I’m angry. … My health insurance has turned into now a huge mortgage payment with a huge deductible.”
Fox host Brian Kilmeadesaid there’s “no doubt” that Trump’s money for Russian oil is “going to be used to help kill innocent Ukrainians.”
Discontent in Spanish-language conservative media illustrates GOP’s deteriorating Hispanic coalition
Citation
Andrea Austria / Media Matters
Since early in his second term, President Donald Trump has been facing criticism from Spanish-language right-wing media figures over his approach to the economy, the Iran war, and mass deportation. Over the fall, some of these figures have warned that Republicans will suffer in the midterm elections as a result of the Trump administration “failing” on immigration and economic policy. It’s not just media personalities either — polls suggest that Latino voters could be a major swing demographic in November.
Figures in Spanish-language right-wing media cautioned that Trump policies could cause an electoral backlash from Hispanic voters who are unhappy with the administration’s “cruel approach” to immigration, the economy, and the war in Iran. Some of these figures have identified Trump’s approach to mass deportations as a primary reason for their anger towards the administration.
Amid increasing skepticism of Katie Zacharia as the new White House press secretary, one MAGA figure is taking credit for the pick. Buck Sexton claimed he had been “maneuvering for months behind the scenes telling everybody that I know in D.C. and in this Trump White House who will listen that she is the absolute best option here.”
Meanwhile, Zacharia is under fire for allegedly overstating her credentials. During one of those appearances last year, a Fox interviewer said about Zacharia, “You can tell she’s a licensed attorney” - she literally is not a licensed attorney. It’s so bad that even Sean Hannity confronted Zacharia on Fox News on Thursday night — and then she appeared on Fox & Friends Friday morning where she was given a chance to clean up that appearance.
Fox’s Charles Payneoffered some advice to young Americans who are struggling to afford the American dream — skip parties, don’t have a pet, and take a staycation instead of a vacation.
MAGA media figures demanded and even teased immigration action against Rep. Ilhan Omar — and then DHS raided her home
On October 12, agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subsection of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, executed a search warrant on the D.C. home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). According to The New York Times, the warrant “lists a series of potential immigration crimes under investigation,” which Omar denies. The warrant was prefigured by members of the Trump administration including Vice President JD Vance, who said in March, “We think Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America,” and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who said in September that there is an “ongoing investigation” into Omar and raised the possibility of deportation. Interestingly enough, both of those quotes were delivered to MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson.
Right-wing media figures have long promoted conspiracy theories against Omar. During the second Trump administration, those attacks have manifested in calls to deport the congresswoman, who is a naturalized American citizen, citing the conspiracy theories that have spread for years as supposed evidence. Johnson has often been instrumental in boosting those conspiracy theories.
After Omar’s home was raided, right-wing media figures celebrated and Johnson took credit, saying, “This will be our crowning achievement for life.”
How Fox News stars are covering the 2026 Senate midterm elections
Citation
Andrea Austria / Media Matters
Fox News evening hosts Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, and Sean Hannity have overwhelmingly focused their discussions on key U.S. Senate races on attacking Democratic and independent candidates rather than building up the Republican nominees.
In the five weeks following Labor Day, the names of Democratic or independent candidates in 10 key Senate races were mentioned 473 times on the three Fox primetime shows, compared to only 154 mentions of the Republican nominees. That’s a ratio of 3.1-to-1.
In one interesting example, Fox barely covered Monday’s bombshell report that Texas GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton had partied overseas with his mistress and two fugitives from U.S. justice, one of whom was a major donor to his campaign. Its hosts’ nonchalant reaction to this new Paxton scandal — first reported by another part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, The Wall Street Journal — comes amid their multi-day fixation on his Democratic opponent James Talarico’s temporary absence from the campaign trail due to illness.
As Media Matters’ Matt Gertz explains: “Fox functions as the communications arm of the GOP, and its biggest stars typically use their programs to achieve Republican electoral victories. This year, much of their coverage has revolved around hagiographic praise of President Donald Trump’s administration and increasingly dire warnings of what will happen to their viewers if Democrats triumph. But the thrust of the MAGA stars’ coverage on individual races appears to align with analysts who suggest the GOP faces a talent deficit after nominating a slate of low-quality candidates in crucial battlegrounds.”
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