Fox & Friends Kicks Off Trump Interview With No Mention of Coronavirus and Fawning Questions, Earning Praise From Trump

President Donald Trump appeared on Fox & Friends Friday morning amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But the interview was more of a victory lap than a reckoning with the public health disaster that has left 75,000 dead and shut down the economy.

That’s thanks to the combined efforts of Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade — who previewed the segment by describing Trump as a president on a “victory lap” over the “Russia collusion hoax,” and kicked off the interview with a series of questions on the controversial decision by the Justice Department to drop the prosecution of Michael Flynn.

“It was a jaw-dropping announcement that the Department of Justice dropped the case against Michael Flynn. You’ve been talking about a Russia hoax for years, is this proof you were right?” was Doocy’s first question.

“Well, absolutely,” Trump replied, before reiterating his belief that the investigation into 2016 Russian election interference and potential ties to his campaign was a “hoax,” a “made up story” and “a disgrace to our nation.”

At one point, Doocy asked Trump whether he would “call up” former President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden to “find out what they knew” about the investigation. Trump said he would not, and embarked on a rant blasting the media and accusing the previous administration — which he described as “human scum” this week — of trying “to take down the president of the United States, a sitting duly-elected president of the United States.”

Doocy’s reply: “Mr. President, what you described just a moment ago, we’ve heard certain people say, if that was true, what you just said a moment ago, that the previous administration tried to undo your presidency, that is the biggest political scandal of all time!”

“It is,” Trump said, adding “Sleepy Joe was involved in this also, very much.”

Doocy didn’t press for more information on that allegation, and as the conversation dredged on, the victory lap turned into victory laps — as the hosts of Fox & Friends allowed Trump to keep crowing until minute 20 of the interview, when they asked their first coronavirus question.

Their line of questioning even earned Fox News high praise from Trump, who said Sean Hannity and the rest of the network’s programming should “get the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes.”

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