Fox’s political-ad spending reports filed at the Federal Communications Commission show robust spending on programs that figure in Trump’s viewing.
One destination for the targeted ads is the morning program “Fox & Friends.” Its hosts have fielded live calls from Trump and landed interviews with the president, who in turn lauds the show to his 64 million Twitter followers. The show has attracted at least $238,250 political ads bought in the Washington, D.C. market, this year, according to Advertising Analytics, a media intelligence firm based in Alexandria, Virginia.
According to Advertising Analytics, other Fox programs attracting political ads inserted into spots reserved for local programming in the Washington market included “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” “The Ingraham Angle,” featuring Laura Ingraham, and “Hannity” featuring Sean Hannity -- all of which have attracted presidential tweets.
U.S. airlines ran an ad on Fox News before the leader of the Middle Eastern nation Qatar visited Trump in July. The airlines, which accuse Qatar of unfair subsidies, have formed a group called Partnership for Open & Fair Skies that includes American Airlines Group Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc.
Their ad in May asked Trump to crack down, opening with a clip of the president at a podium saying, “We will stand up to trade cheating.” The partnership told supporters the ad was running on Fox & Friends, according to a person briefed on the matter.
The partnership declined to discuss details of the ad-time purchase. It sent an emailed statement from Scott Reed, its managing partner, which said, “American workers are counting on President Trump to stand up for U.S. jobs and fair competition.”
In a White House meeting in July, U.S. airlines failed to win Trump’s intervention.
Foreign-headquartered automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen AG in 2017 bought time on Fox & Friends to tout their American-made vehicles.
Trump-seeking ads aren’t limited to business topics. After a gunman espousing anti-immigrant views killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas, Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro bought time on Fox & Friends in Bedminster, New Jersey, where Trump was staying at a golf club he owns.
The spot was intended “to send a message to @realDonaldTrump on his vacation: words have consequences, and we’ve had enough,” Castro said in a tweet. In the ad Castro said Trump had “stoked the fire of racists.”