Fox News Anchor: We’re Not Trump’s State-Run TV

Martha MacCallum with President Trump

Martha MacCallum doesn't like it when critics paint Fox News with a broad brush.

According to philly.com, MacCallum, the anchor of The Story who will co-anchor the network's live election night coverage for the first time on Tuesday alongside fellow news anchor Bret Baier, said the biggest misconception among Fox News critics is that the network and all its hosts are "state-run television" being run out of the White House by President Trump.

"Clearly Fox News overall and in our opinion sections leans right, there's no doubt about that. Just like CNN and MSNBC lean left," MacCallum said in an interview. "But I think we have terrific reporters across the board. And I think we have really strong panels and we have really strong political coverage. There are a lot of different voices here."

Martha MacCallum

Most cable news networks stick with a formula of news coverage during the day and opinion at night. But Fox News has been criticized for its opinion hosts moving from commentary to outright advocacy, with personalities like Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro acting like informal Trump advocates and advisers (Trump listed Hannity as a "special guest" at Monday's rally in Cape Girardeau, Mo., but the network says he's only there to interview the president).

MacCallum, who despite hosting a prime time show that's solidly on the "news" side, confronted that perception of coziness recently when she landed an exclusive interview with then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after sexual-assault allegations emerged. Many media critics, such as the Washington Post's Margaret Sullivan, predicted that MacCallum's interview would be a "challenge-free infomercial." But MacCallum asked several piercing questions that led to some revealing moments, including Kavanaugh making the awkward admission that he was a virgin throughout high school and parts of college.

"It's ridiculous on its face to comment on an interview before it happens and I don't put too much credence in that kind of assessment, before or after," MacCallum said.

MacCallum isn't the only news-side host who has been put into an awkward position by the network's Trump-friendly opinion coverage. Baier, who has yet to land an interview with the president, told the New Yorker recently that it pains him to hear Fox called "state TV" for the Trump presidency. And Shepard Smith, who routinely criticized the administration as vigorously as anyone you'd see on CNN or MSNBC, said the network's opinion programming exists "strictly to be entertaining."