What does the Trump indictment mean? Fox News can't decide if it's 'history' or 'BS'

A New York grand jury indicted former President Donald Trump on unspecified charges Thursday, a historic development that ignited the expected explosion of coverage on cable-news networks.

And what coverage. It ranged from, “This is a moment in history that people will remember” to “The whole thing is BS.”

And that was just on Fox News.

As the embattled network tried to figure out what it wants to be in real time after the indictment, it’s worth noting that a lot has changed since the last chapter of the Trump saga unfolded.

MSNBC is still busy Trump-bashing — there’s something to be said for consistency — and CNN, under new ownership, is trying to take the middle ground.

What was it Neil Young said about one of his biggest hits? “‘Heart of Gold’ put me in the middle of the road. Traveling there soon became a bore so I headed for the ditch.”

CNN’s ratings have, too.

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Fox News is reeling from a public-relations standpoint

Fox News, meanwhile, is reeling from a public-relations standpoint from all of the stories about how its top opinion stars peddled opinions about Trump and his election denial after the 2020 election while privately not believing a word of what they were saying.

How do you recover from that?

Awkwardly, if Thursday is any indication.

In fairness, the network was not helped by the news breaking during “The Five,” its over-the-top afternoon opinion show. To make matters worse, Jesse Watters was there.

He’s the one who offered the “BS” summation. While no one at the networks had seen the indictment, the assumption all the way around is that Trump was indicted over accusations that he paid hush money to a porn star known as Stormy Daniels.

“It’s not good,” Watters said, “and it’s horrible that (District Attorney) Alvin Bragg, who’s a joke in this town, who should get run out of town because crime is running wild, is going after this.”

He went on to compare the accusations against Trump to ... a haircut? He said it was just like “if you get a haircut a couple of weeks before the election and you pay for it out of your own pocket.”

Wait, what?

“You think a public affair with a porn star is the same thing as getting a touch-up on your hair?” Jessica Tarlov said, incredulous.

“It’s P.R.,” Watters said. “And it’s called a great analogy.”

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Jesse Watters sounded like his feelings were hurt

Whatever the case, Watters’ default position is outrage, something that has gotten him his own show. He seemed personally offended by the indictment, as if his feelings were hurt.

For instance, Trey Gowdy, the former congressman, said, “It’s really a misdemeanor that put on a suit and they want it to look like a felony. When our justice system becomes a political tool, then we are on thin ice as a republic, and I think we are increasingly heading in that direction.”

Watters just couldn’t leave it alone.

“I don’t like the looks of this thing,” he said. “How is it even a misdemeanor? I never went to law school so I’m going to respectfully disagree with Trey Gowdy and say it’s a bookkeeping issue. Why? Why?”

Maybe it was a theoretical question.

What does indicted mean?

Trump was indicted, which means charges were brought against him. To be sure, the political underpinnings of the case were not ignored on any network. But the perspective was different.

“We also have to guard around the other side of this coin,” Nicolle Wallace said on MSNBC, “which is, oh, he’s going to be so scary now that he’s been indicted. He’s been scary the whole time.”

But no one went in as hard as Fox News.

Katie Pavlich — who uttered the “moment in American history” line, followed that with, “This is a political rubicon that has been crossed.” Later she said, “It’s like these leftist prosecutors are in a competition with each other about who can get Trump. And now it’s Alvin Bragg’s turn.”

We’ll see. Boy, will we.

“We’re going to have to watch this play out before our eyes as he has to be booked and charged,” Gloria Borger said on CNN. “I think that’s going to be remarkable for the American public to see. It is a moment in history.”

Add it to the list.

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Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What indictment means for Donald Trump and Fox News