How a 'tiny hole in the conservative safety net' soured James Comer on Fox News

13 December 2023

Far-right MAGA Republicans typically regard Fox News and Fox Businesses as safe spaces, expecting softball questions if they are interviewed by Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham or Maria Bartiromo. But House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky) is avoiding the morning show "Fox and Friends" after being mildly challenged by long-time co-host Steve Doocy.

Comer has been pushing for an impeachment of President Joe Biden and trying to link him to his son Hunter Biden's legal problems. But when Comer appeared on "Fox and Friends" on Monday morning, December 11, Doocy told him, "They've connected the dots, the Department of Justice did, on Hunter, but they have not shown where Joe Biden, you know, did anything illegally."

Doocy wasn't especially forceful. But when Comer was interviewed by Newsmax's Eric Bolling the following day, he announced that he has decided to avoid "Fox and Friends."

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"He's had that position from the very beginning,” the far-right House Oversight chairman said of Doocy.

Comer told Bolling, "I've quit going on 'Fox & Friends' because of Doocy, you know? I mean, he's the one guy on Fox that's been very critical of the investigation. I have my theory why, and we'll talk about that at a later point. But at the end of the day, he's entitled to his opinion. But I don't think the average viewer of Fox News agrees with Doocy one bit."

The New Republic's Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, in an article published on December 13, emphasized that Comer was triggered by a "tiny hole in the conservative safety net."

"If Comer is too afraid to face down Fox News for even the mildest bout of criticism," Houghtaling writes, "what does that mean for the actual impeachment proceedings, which Republicans seemingly want to keep in the dark? Last week, the caucus threatened to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress if he refused to appear for a closed-door deposition, despite the president's son's previously voiced preference for a public hearing, fearing that information from those interviews would be selectively leaked and used to 'manipulate, even distort, the facts and misinform the American public.'"

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