'Fox News was an arm of the Republican Party -- now the White House is an arm of Fox': MSNBC panelist

An explosive expose on Fox News was posted by The New Yorker Monday that looked into the way that the network has become state-sanctioned media.

During an MSNBC panel discussion with host Nicolle Wallace, analysts lamented that the network has very clearly taken over the role of manipulating the president and running the White House messaging machine.

"The Fox News thing, I was on with Gabe Sherman yesterday, obviously he’s done so much great reporting in terms of Fox News and Roger Ailes, and he said something that stuck with me," said former Hillary Clinton staffer Zerlina Maxwell. "He said post-Watergate, Roger Ailes’ entire concept of Fox News was to prevent that from happening again."

Today, Donald Trump has surpassed former President Richard Nixon with scandal after scandal. The difference under Trump, she said, is that he has an echo chamber that can influence the way Republicans think.

"I used to think that Fox News was the arm of the Republican Party," said former DNC Senior Advisor Doug Thornell. "Now I think the White House is an arm of Fox News. And you know the White House is staffing up with people who were either contributors or ran the network, Bill Shine ran that network. And it’s paying off for the president right now, and it’s paying off for Fox News with ratings, but I think as we get into a 2020 election, I think it’s going to be a very difficult spot for Fox, especially post-election if they are still tied to this man."

Watch the full conversation below: