Caitlyn Jenner has parlayed her TV career and flopped California gubernatorial run into a new job as a contributor at Fox News. In her first appearance on Hannity, the former Olympian discussed her intentions in joining the network and what point of view she hopes to bring to Fox viewers.
“America has to have a stand up mentality,” she said. “Yes, I have done a lot in my life going all the way back to the Olympics. We had a lot of talks actually, even with you, Sean, and other people at Fox when we were negotiating this deal. As you know, I am trans but I’m not a trans activist. That’s just one part of my life. There’s so much more to me. But I think in the next in the midterms coming up, LGBT issues are going to be very big issues, and I’m looking forward to covering those. But there’s so much more to me than that, obviously.”
The segment did not delve too deep, with Hannity only asking Jenner two questions. Hannity did attempt to start a discussion about the Parental Rights in Education bill — also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — which seeks to ban or limit classroom discussions on sexual orientation or gender identity unless it is “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate,” asking Jenner if she thought it was a “good idea or bad idea.”
Jenner mentioned she has 10 children and 20 grandchildren and said she was “all for parental rights.”
Earlier Thursday, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott announced Jenner’s hiring in a press release that noted Jenner’s first appearance on the network would be Thursday night on Hannity. “I am humbled by this unique opportunity to speak directly to Fox News Media’s millions of viewers about a range of issues that are important to the American people,” Jenner said in a statement.
NEW: @FoxNews Media has signed Caitlyn Jenner as a contributor, per an announcement from Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott.
— Jenner’s first appearance will be on @seanhannity tonight at 9 p.m. ET. pic.twitter.com/m9JzmGUJdY— Sara Fischer (@sarafischer) March 31, 2022
Scott added, “Caitlyn’s story is an inspiration to us all. She is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community and her illustrious career spans a variety of fields that will be a tremendous asset for our audience.”
Of course while Scott touts Jenner as “a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community,” many of Fox News’ most popular talking heads have been targeting the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. A major punching bag lately has been the Walt Disney Corporation, which everyone from Tucker Carlson to Laura Ingraham has been hammering as not only too woke, but pushing an explicit sexual agenda on children, because it opposed (after much hand-wringing) Florida’s new “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
That said, Jenner — a registered Republican whom a former campaign advisor described as a fiscal conservative and social liberal — will still fit in fine with her new colleagues, certainly when it comes to those fiscal conservative policies that overwhelmingly benefit her and her super-wealthy cohort. But there’ll actually probably be plenty common ground on the social issues, too.
Another recent Fox News target has been Lia Thomas, the first openly trans athlete to win an NCAA Division I national championship. Of Thomas, Carlson recently said, “Female athletes are losing NCAA championships to men dressing up as women in order to cheat their way to victory.” Jenner, a former athlete herself, has largely agreed that Thomas should not be allowed to compete against other women. In a segment on Fox News back in January that may as well have been an audition for her new job, she stated, “We need to protect women’s sports. I feel sorry for the other athletes that are out there, especially at Penn or anybody she’s competing against… It’s not good for women’s sports.”
WOKENESS is killing women’s sports!
Watch below: pic.twitter.com/m1BhT6zbKv
— Caitlyn Jenner (@Caitlyn_Jenner) January 20, 2022