For candidates in the Democratic race, everything touched by the bright lights of TV networks is generally fair game, except for that one shadowy place: Fox News. This time around, candidates have taken different approaches toward the historically conservative network. The Daily Show host Trevor Noah notes that while Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris “are avoiding Fox News like cooties,” Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg have proven more open to crossing that particular aisle. And so far, they’ve been largely rewarded for their efforts.
Sanders, who did a Fox News town hall, somehow got the crowd cheering for a government-run healthcare system, a scene that must have shocked many Fox viewers. “It’s like buying a ticket to see Paddington but you walk into the wrong theater and all of a sudden it’s Fifty Shades of Grey,” Noah said. Buttigieg also seemed to wow his crowd, receiving a standing ovation. Predictably, Trump publicly bemoaned the event. “You realize what’s happened here?” Noah said of Trump’s wounded response. “The news network that he loves the most flirted with a younger, hotter candidate—and he’s clearly shook.”