Caught Again: Fox Doesn’t Just Swap Images - Fox Shields Trump Even During the Return of Fallen Soldiers

Fox & Friends Weekend replaced in its Sunday broadcast the video footage of Donald Trump’s participation in yesterday’s dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base with a clip from December 17, 2025. What was shown was not the actual material from the current ceremony, at which the remains of six U.S. soldiers killed in the Middle East war were returned, but archival footage from last year.

Fox News described it as a mistake. Reporting suggests something else. An employee had mistakenly pulled up the wrong material, the network said in a statement. The error was regretted and an apology was issued for the incorrect images. The correct video footage had been broadcast at other times, including on Saturday. But the incident raises questions that cannot be settled with a brief statement. On social media, accusations quickly surfaced that the network had deliberately relied on older footage in order to avoid showing its largely Trump friendly audience that the president was wearing a baseball cap at the ceremony. At so called dignified transfers, one of the most solemn duties of a commander in chief, every detail is scrutinized. Clothing is not incidental but part of the symbolic dignity of the moment.

Above all, however, this incident does not stand alone. As early as September 8, we exposed and documented how Fox News handled video material in connection with the protests in Portland. In our article “The Big Lie of Portland - How Fox News Feeds Trump and Turns a City Into an Enemy Image” we showed how the selection, framing, and context of footage created a political dramaturgy that only partially matched the reality on the ground. Images were used in a way that amplified fear and legitimized political measures such as the deployment of the National Guard and ICE operations. Some of you will remember: That article was also blocked on Facebook at the time. Without warning, without a comprehensible explanation. We did not accept that. We filed an appeal, followed up, argued - until the piece was restored. And it remains there to this day.

The Great Lie of Portland - How Fox News Feeds Trump and Turns a City Into an Enemy Image

Read more here …

And the articles:

The Big Lie of Portland II - Trump's Threat, Fox's Images and the Truth on the Street – The Invented Rebellion - How a Federal Judge Shatters Trump's Portland Fantasies

The Big Lie of Portland II - Trump’s Threat, Fox’s Images and the Truth on the Street - The Fabricated Rebellion - How a Federal Judge Shattered Trump’s Portland Fantasies

Against this backdrop, the current “error” carries even greater weight. When incorrect material is broadcast during a ceremony for fallen soldiers, it is not merely a technical mishap. It is about editorial responsibility and the question of whether patterns are repeating. An apology is necessary. But it does not replace transparency about how such decisions are made - and why they repeatedly fall in favor of the same political figure.

Anyone who claims trust must be measured by how they handle the truth - especially when cameras are rolling and the entire country is watching. For the families of the fallen soldiers, this is not a “regrettable error.” It is the moment when they see their sons, daughters, brothers, or fathers return one last time in dignity. And then the television shows images from a different ceremony. Incorrect material during a transfer is not a slip. It concerns the most sensitive moment of their lives. Whoever airs archival footage at that moment violates something that should be inviolable. That is disrespectful.