President Donald Trump has apparently started to lose support from one of his loyal Fox News allies as doubts rise over his decision to continue the war against Iran, according to reports on Thursday.
Fox News host and conservative ally Laura Ingraham had a skeptical response to the Trump administration's war on Wednesday night during a live broadcast, Media Matters for America reported. Ingraham warned that as the United States escalates its military action in the Middle East, it could prompt dire and "unintended consequences." She argued that Trump and his administration should focus on America's economy and political situation.
"Iran knows it cannot win militarily, so it's using the leverage it has by prolonging the conflict," Ingraham said during her monologue leading the show. "Now, what do they want to do? They want to inflict maximum economic pain on the region, on the U.S., [on] the global economy as much as possible until they think Trump relents. But the White House doesn't seem to be blinking."
The host pointed to a clip featuring White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said during a press briefing on Wednesday that "President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell."
Ingraham described why Leavitt's comments were problematic and what that could mean for not just Iran, but the region as a whole, especially as Republicans anticipate tough midterms ahead.
"Well, the problem is obviously unleashing hell means destroying infrastructure, which itself causes a series of cascading problems for the region, including maybe outside the region — political problems for the president in a midterm election year," Ingraham said.
Trump has often looked to Fox News and its voices to gain further insights and potentially influence his next moves.
"The power struggle is significant — it is not an exaggeration to suggest the course of the war might hinge on which Fox shows the president is watching," according to the outlet.
And although Ingraham could be one of the few Fox News broadcasters expressing concerns about the Iran war, her voice could carry some weight.
"Ingraham is inching toward the type of dissent that has been virtually absent from Fox’s coverage of the war, even as the broader right-wing media has split," according to Media Matters for America. "Her colleagues have played key roles in convincing Trump to attack in the first place and are pushing for risky escalations. Ingraham herself briefly quibbled with Trump’s handling of an apparent U.S. strike that leveled an Iranian school, killing scores of children, but had supported the war itself, which she declared three weeks ago that Trump had already won."