THE FOX NEWS FRAT HOUSE

Here’s a conspiracy theory worth pondering.  On Monday, April 6, 2026, Fox News’ premier evening program, The Five, featured not only Dana Perino, Kellyanne Conway, Greg Gutfeld, and Jesse Watters, but also Kat Timpf in the chair typically occupied by Harold Ford or Jessica Tarlov.  The conspiracy?  Someone has been transforming the news organization into an unserious, morally vacuous source for information and opinion.  Maybe it’s the former House Speaker and Mitt Romney’s 2012 running mate, Paul Ryan, who continues to sit on the board of Fox Corporation.  Or maybe it’s Karl Rove, the Bush 43 whiteboard guru.  Or maybe it’s some other Deep State figure who has penetrated the bowels of Fox News.  But some cabal must be afoot to populate the network’s programs with contributors or hosts that stand slightly above late night comics when it comes to credible analysis.   

  

The plot began three years ago when Jesse Watters, formerly Bill O’Reilly’s “Man on the Street,” was elevated to the 8 p.m. (ET) anchor spot replacing Tucker Carlson.  While Watters occasionally strings together salient talking points, on a gravitas scale he rates near Pee-wee Herman.  To his credit (if not his credibility) Watters regularly observes that his prestigious journalistic position was a stroke of luck, not a status achieved through professional merit.  On Watters’ Primetime show he chums it up with folks like “K-Mac” (Kevin McCarthy) and “VDH” (Victor Davis Hanson) during interviews where serious issues are approached on his part like exchanges between frat house buddies.  This insouciance turns into Gutfeld-inspired frivolity and stupidity on The Five where, in the aforementioned episode, he turned a question about Democrats touting tax cuts into an analogy involving a return to the missionary position after experimenting with various sexual alternatives. 

Gutfeld is a different matter given the fact that he regularly composes poignant diatribes eviscerating leftist absurdities.  The problem is that his not-so-late-night obscenity fest (7 p.m. on the West Coast) totally destroys his credibility as a serious individual whose opinions are worthy of consideration.  On Gutfeld! his psychological instability and moral vacuity are clearly displayed.  Compulsive sniggering, a scatological fixation, plus jokes that completely discard the notion of taste reveal that Gutfeld is “a sick man,” as Paul Mauro recently observed when countering the host’s ecstatic praise for an erotic chatbot.  While “late night” Gutfeld generally tows a pro-MAGA political line, his comic persona is that of a rank degenerate.  (No, Greg, it isn’t funny that you have some young pool-boys confined in your basement.)  Indeed, Gutfeld’s comic “brand” is that nothing is sacred, a shtick that completely obviates his serious monologue about Democrats destroying the boundaries a society requires.  Finally, Gutfeld’s comic (and at least partially real) personality has lowered the intellectual and moral tone of The Five, especially in terms of acceptable language and imagery (cf. the aforementioned Watters analogy).  

Kat Timpf’s addition to The Five on April 6 was the coup de grâce for that episode’s integrity.  Timpf, who infiltrated FOX via Gutfeld’s late-late night program, Red Eye, brought to the highly rated evening show Gutfeld’s personal moral void plus none of his political insights.  Though careful to mute her freshman level  “libertarian” views about borders, drag queens, and drug and prostitution legalization that air on Gutfeld!, when given a chance to speak on this more serious program, Timpf was still able to plug her idea that no joke is off limits -- the premise of her first self-referential book. 

When asked about a very successful SNL gag that implied Trump’s attendance at a theater performance might result in a repetition of Lincoln’s fate, Timpf (along with Gutfeld and Watters) shrugged it off as nothing important -- no thought given to “unintended” consequences or the uproar that would inevitably (and rightly) ensue were the same barb directed toward Barack Obama.  Only Kellyanne Conway provided a reasonable response by noting that liberals are vastly more willing than conservatives to condone political violence and said so just a few days after Charlie Kirk’s assassination.  Timpf was also able to declare that she often employs the f-word in less restrictive contexts and can joke about her own mastectomy -- as if a self-referential and presumably humorous observation about a personal crisis justifies tasteless and harmful jokes about anything else.  Such justifiably forbidden comedic territory is a landscape upon which Gutfeld!, SNL , and Jimmy Kimmel regularly tread.

While I don’t care for Jessica Tarlov’s pre-packaged TDS talking points, at least her comments represent a perspective that can’t be casually dismissed as coming from a “Poo Detective” (Gutfeld!) or someone who hysterically berates the thoughtful Federalist correspondent Brianna Lyman for a crocheting hobby.  According to Timpf, Brianna is “blowing it” if in her twenties she’s not at a bar getting wasted, smoking cigarettes, throwing up, then going back to the bar.  (See Timpf lose it here at minute 9:30.)   

If Fox News wishes to foil the news-rot conspiracy against it, I suggest utilizing Will Cain for Primetime and employing Johnny Jones, Lisa Boothe, Kayleigh McEnany, Lawrence Jones, Paul Mauro, and Erin Maguire to fill open opinion slots.  Also insist on more decorum from Gutfeld or confine him to late-late night.

Richard Kirk is a freelance writer living in Southern California.  His book Moral Illiteracy: "Who's to Say?"  is also available on Kindle , as is his book Poetry with a Moral Edge.

 

 

     

GUTFELD! OR GUTTER-FILLED!

Note: This essay is based on Gutfeld's late-night (11 p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Pacific) program. The first program tonight (July 17) an hour earlier had some bleeped out foul language and a number of not so obscure references to Gutfeld's supposed sexual depravity ("blowing" Bubbles or Buble") but certainly not as many as the "late-night" program. Still, the "libertarian" unconcern about "illegal" cocaine was made clear and the same spiritually and morally vacuous Gutfeld was on display during a show that clearly lost its comic edge after the first half hour.

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Can we speak honestly about the moral black hole known as Greg Gutfeld—an abysmal vortex that draws everyone around him into a perverse world of cultural depravity. Yes, he’s more politically astute than media’s leftist Cretins, but if politics are “downstream of culture,” what kind of political environment is being created in the witches brew of Gutfeld’s pre-pubescent potty humor? It’s certainly not a culture that exhibits any attachment to, much less reverence toward, the great achievements of Western literature, art, civic life, and morality.

Seldom does Gutfeld manage to complete a late-night monologue that omits his obsession with scatology, and never does he focus sustained attention on the essential roles that intact families and religious faith play in creating a virtuous culture. Assuming his humor bears some relationship to the truth, Gutfeld also exhibits little affection for children and offers scant appreciation for male-female households whose primary focus is raising their offspring to be moral adults. Instead, when proffering remedies for our political (not cultural) rot, his default position echoes the leftist cliché about education. Yes, he adds an important school choice proviso but is totally blind to the fact that schooling alone, even if academically sound, will have little impact on cultural degradation absent a widespread moral awakening—a revolution that spawns massive institutional changes and millions more intact families. If Gutfeld’s show ever emphasizes the role played by overwhelmingly religious families in shaping children’s lives, it’s up to conservative guests like Mercedes Schlapp who, like other true conservatives, must feel the need to take a long shower after being dunked in Gutfeld’s verbal cesspool.

Ironically, Gutfeld’s expletive-filled program airs at 8 p.m. on the West Coast, the former “family hour.” [Now airing at 7 p.m. on the West Coast.] That irony becomes thicker when Gutfeld passionately and regularly advocates for the legalization of drugs—a position that coincides with his comic persona as an aficionado of most forms of chemical intoxication and sexual deviancy. Unfortunately such references may no longer be over the heads of South Park tweeners who tune in looking for some early-evening SNL humor. Given his attachment to music emitted by bands with nihilist leanings (as well as that compulsive snicker) it’s not a stretch to think Gutfeld assuages his psychological demons by resorting to other than over-the-counter remedies.

On this issue Gutfeld has a reliable echo in the person of Kat Timpf, a self-proclaimed libertarian whose on-air superficiality doubtless has Ayn Rand spinning in her grave. Kat’s a “no rules” gal whose “live and let die” philosophy opposes laws both against and for sexualizing young kids in school. In real life, of course, that means allowing radicals who set the agenda for public education to continue pushing “instruction” on six-year-olds that would have been deemed child abuse twenty years ago. Timpf is even unwilling to oppose drag queen shows for young kids. Instead, she comments with great passion about her friendships with practitioners of that “profession.” The same inane preference for dogma over reality applies whenever Timpf opines about illegal immigration. The “real” problem, she asserts, is the welfare system, not immigration—as if there were some possibility that the former will magically disappear before the country’s schools, hospitals, and social services are overwhelmed with a hundred million foreigners possessing little education or proficiency in English as well as a clear preference for the political party that’s eager to encourage illegal border crossings and to provide “migrants” whatever “entitlements” are needed to keep that party in power.

If those considerations aren’t sufficiently damning, consider Timpf’s self-congratulatory insouciance over “bump and grind” high school entertainments. After all, she observes, kids nowadays already have access that activity and worse—just as she herself did at high school. Never crossing Timpf’s mind is the thought that using her own experience as a normative rule will have the disastrous effect of producing a significant number of self-absorbed, morally clueless adults who are unable to envision or cherish a society in which individuals care deeply about their neighbors and exhibit gratitude for the sacrifices and accomplishments of folks who came before them. Anyone who thinks those words are unduly harsh should ponder Timpf’s comment that she would only want to have a child if it were ugly, since it would then not detract attention from herself.  It’s difficult to imagine a more revolting expression of narcissism.     

I also find it hard to understand how Timpf became a writer or blogger for National Review, but it’s clear she has no affection for religion and only offers back of the hand “raised Catholic” slights that would have made William F. Buckley bolt up straight in his chair. It’s revealing that Timpf once complained bitterly about how cold she was in the studio while wearing, as is her wont, attire suitable for a Caribbean beach. On another occasion Timpf scoffed at the name Rand Paul (as if he were a Libertarian) and affirmed her political allegiance to the Senator’s eccentric dad, former Congressman Ron Paul. To sum up, Timpf has to be squeezed to say anything remotely akin to a moral imperative but is quick to denounce, with passion, “losers” who object to bikini-clad baristas or guests who don’t share her affection for Beatles music. Her fantasy society consists of human monads free to engage in depravities that never impact anyone else—a society devoid of ruthless folks bent on wielding absolute power for whom an assemblage of feckless party-goers who only wish to be left alone pose no political obstacle whatsoever.  

It isn’t particularly surprising that late 20^th century America has produced individuals of the Gutfeld-Timpf stripe, personalities who put on display for an audience’s amusement lives enmeshed in emotional turbulence, stimulants, and various degrees of intellectual virtuosity that appear devoid of serious attachment to the West’s literary and moral traditions—persons who also have little contact with folks in “fly-over” country who love God, family, football, and the flag. It is, however, depressing that FOX seems willing to subject its guests and audience to Gutfeld’s morally debilitating influence—a pox that even infects more serious news programs like The Five.  

Sam Donaldson once defended sensationalized news coverage with the rationalization that apart from its ambulance-chasing exaggerations and frivolities no one would watch. It always occurred to me that news hidden beneath so much toxic “frosting” was hardly worth watching. The same analysis applies to the noxious effluvia that accompany the occasional political insights on Gutfeld’s show. Bottom line:  if politics is “downstream” from the culture exhibited on that program, those politics won’t be compatible with a Constitutional system that, as John Adams observed, “was made only for a moral and religious people” and is “wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  

Richard Kirk is a freelance writer living in Southern California whose book Moral Illiteracy: "Who's to Say?"  is also available on Kindle    

GUTFELD! OR GUTTER-FILLED!

Now that the midterms are over, can we speak honestly about the moral black hole named Greg Gutfeld—an abysmal vortex that sucks everyone around him into a perverse world of cultural depravity.  Yes, he’s more politically astute than media’s leftist Cretins, but if politics are “downstream from culture,” what kind of political environment is being created in the witches brew of Gutfeld’s pre-pubescent potty humor?  It’s certainly not a milieu that exhibits any attachment to, much less reverence toward, the great achievements of Western literature, art, civic life, and morality.

Seldom does Gutfeld manage to complete a late-night monologue that omits his obsession with scatology, and never does he focus sustained attention on the essential roles that intact families and religious faith play in creating a virtuous culture.  Assuming his humor bears some relationship to the truth, Gutfeld has no affection for children and offers scant appreciation for male-female households whose primary focus is raising their offspring to be moral adults.  Instead, when proffering remedies for our political (not cultural) rot, his default position echoes the leftist cliché about education.  Yes, he adds an important school choice proviso but is totally blind to the fact that schooling alone, even if academically sound, will have little impact on cultural degradation absent a widespread moral awakening—a revolution that spawns massive institutional changes and millions more intact families. If Gutfeld’s show ever emphasizes the role played by overwhelmingly religious families in shaping children’s lives, it’s up to conservative guests like Mercedes Schlapp who, like other true conservatives, must crave a long shower after being dunked in Gutfeld’s verbal cesspool.

Ironically, Gutfeld’s expletive-filled program airs at 8 p.m. on the West Coast, the former “family hour.”  That irony becomes thicker when Gutfeld passionately and regularly advocates for the legalization of drugs—a position that coincides with his comic persona as an aficionado of most forms of chemical intoxication and sexual deviancy.  Given his attachment to music emitted by bands with nihilist leanings (cf. Power Trip) as well as that compulsive snicker, it’s rather clear that Gutfeld assuages his obvious psychological demons by resorting to other than over-the-counter remedies.

On this issue Gutfeld has a reliable echo in the person of Kat Timpf, a self-proclaimed libertarian whose on-air superficiality doubtless has Ayn Rand spinning in her grave.  Kat’s a “no rules” gal whose “live and let die” philosophy opposes laws both against and for sexualizing young kids in school.  In real life, of course, that means allowing radicals who set the agenda for public education to continue pushing “instruction” on six-year-olds that would have been deemed child abuse twenty years ago. Timpf is even unwilling to oppose drag queen shows for young kids.  Instead, she comments with passion about her friendships with practitioners of that “profession.”  The same inane preference for dogma over reality applies whenever Timpf opines about illegal immigration.  The “real” problem, she asserts, is the welfare system, not immigration—as if there were some possibility that the former will magically disappear before the country’s schools, hospitals, and social services are overwhelmed with a hundred million foreigners possessing little education, no proficiency in English, and a clear preference for the political party that encourages illegal border crossings and provides “migrants” whatever “entitlements” are needed to ensure their ballot-box loyalty.  

If those considerations aren’t sufficiently damning, consider Timpf’s self-congratulatory insouciance over “bump and grind” high school entertainments.  After all, she observes, kids nowadays already have access to that activity and much worse online—just as she herself did in high school.  Never crossing Timpf’s mind is the thought that using her own experience as a normative rule will have the effect of producing multitudes of self-absorbed, morally clueless adults incapable of cherishing a society in which individuals care about their neighbors and exhibit gratitude for the accomplishments of folks who came before them.  Anyone who thinks those words are unduly harsh should ponder Timpf’s comment that she would only want to have a child if it were ugly, since it would then not detract attention from herself.  It’s difficult to imagine a more staggering expression of narcissism.     

I also find it hard to understand how Timpf became a writer or blogger for National Review, but it’s clear she has no affection for religion and only offers back of the hand “raised Catholic” slights that would have made William F. Buckley bolt up straight in his chair.  It’s revealing that Timpf once complained bitterly about how cold she was in the studio while wearing, as is her wont, attire suitable for a Caribbean beach.  On another occasion Timpf scoffed at the name Rand Paul (as if he were a Libertarian) and affirmed her political allegiance to the Senator’s eccentric dad, former Congressman Ron Paul.  To sum up, Timpf has to be squeezed to say anything remotely akin to a moral imperative but is quick to denounce, with passion, “losers” who object to bikini-clad baristas.  Her fantasy society consists of human monads free to engage in depravities that never impact anyone else—a society miraculously devoid of ruthless folks bent on wielding absolute power for whom an assemblage of  party-goers who only wish to be left alone pose no obstacle whatsoever.  

It isn’t particularly surprising that late 20^th century America has produced individuals of the Gutfeld-Timpf stripe, personalities who display for an audience’s amusement lives enmeshed in emotional turbulence, stimulants, and various degrees of intellectual virtuosity devoid of serious attachment to the West’s literary and moral traditions—persons who also have little contact with folks in “fly-over” country who love God, family, football, and the flag.  It is, however, depressing that FOX seems willing to subject its guests and audience to Gutfeld’s morally debilitating influence—a pox that even infects more serious news programs like The Five.  

Sam Donaldson once defended sensationalized news coverage with the rationalization that apart from its ambulance-chasing exaggerations and frivolities no one would watch.  It always occurred to me that news hidden beneath so much toxic “frosting” was hardly worth watching.  The same analysis applies to the noxious effluvia that accompany the occasional political insights on Gutfeld’s show. Bottom line:  if politics is “downstream” from the culture exhibited on that program, those politics won’t be compatible with a Constitutional system that, as John Adams observed, “was made only for a moral and religious people” and is “wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”