logo
Fox News' new Gen Z star Brett Cooper misses debut

Fox News' new Gen Z star Brett Cooper misses debut

Cooper, who is currently on a spring tour, shared a recorded message, seemingly captured on a cell phone video, telling viewers that she was "reporting live" from a Buc-ce's gas station and convenience store location in Texas.
"I was so excited to kick off this new partnership with Fox in this official way, but a series of unfortunate events left my husband and I on the side of the road in Texas on the freeway as we were trying to get between Austin and Dallas," Cooper said.
Cooper added that she "wanted to send in this video, just to say hi and to thank you all for the congratulations, and the excitement. I am so excited to join Fox as a contributor. I can't wait to be on their shows even more regularly," she said, promising the experience "will be so much fun."
Cooper, 23, said she expects to appear on Fox Thursday, June 26.
The Tennessee resident, social media influencer and podcast host's hiring by the conservative leaning cable news network as a contributor was first announced Wednesday. Cooper -- who boasts over 4.5 million followers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and X -- could become one of Fox's youngest stars.
Less combative than other young women who rose to stardom on the right, Cooper found fame like left leaning "Call Her Daddy" podcast star Alex Cooper, with whom the influencer seemingly bears no relation in name or political views, by discussing cultural issues that matter to young women.
Lara Trump plans to interview President Donald Trump, Democrats on new Fox show
In January, the UCLA alum launched her own podcast, "The Brett Cooper Show" in which she comments on both pop culture and politics. She previously spent two years hosting a video podcast "The Comments Section" from 2022 to 2024 for controversial conservative commentator Ben Shapiro's company The Daily Wire.
In recent months, Fox News has seemingly made further efforts to appeal to women. In February, former Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump -- the daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump -- launched her own show on the network.
In doing so, the wife of President Trump's middle son, Eric, passed up a Cabinet position, a possible U.S. Senate appointment and became the first family member of a sitting president to host a television program.
After Fox News announced Trump's hiring, criticism followed. The Daily Beast said she tried and failed to paint her father-in-law as "pro-feminist" after Trump featured female Trump administration officials Pam Bondi, Tulsi Gabbard and Karoline Leavitt. The New Yorker coined her "The New Trump-Family Megaphone."

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

‘You cheer against Trump so hard': Hegseth scolds Iran nuclear strike reporting with no proof of ‘devastation'
‘You cheer against Trump so hard': Hegseth scolds Iran nuclear strike reporting with no proof of ‘devastation'

The Independent

time13 minutes ago

  • The Independent

‘You cheer against Trump so hard': Hegseth scolds Iran nuclear strike reporting with no proof of ‘devastation'

The former Fox News weekend presenter who now serves as the head of the massive American defense establishment baselessly accused the Pentagon press corps — including one of his former colleagues — of deliberately trying to cast doubt on the success of last weekend's U.S. airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites out of a desire to undermine the Trump administration in a bizarre rant-filled press conference aimed at the Pentagon on Thursday. Speaking alongside the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon briefing room, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth laid into the assembled reporters from the start by grousing about how news outlets hadn't given President Donald Trump enough credit for NATO members' decision to increase defense spending to an annual five percent of GDP at this week's summit in The Hague. He also accused them of missing 'historic moments' while trying to 'find wedges and spin stories' before claiming the airstrikes aimed at Iran's Esfahan, Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites on Saturday had been 'the most complex and secretive military operation in history' and 'a resounding success.' The airstrikes, which were conducted by seven B-2 Spirit bomber aircraft with the aid of numerous fighters and an Ohio-class guided missile submarine that fired dozens of Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles at one of the target sites, appear to have inflicted significant damage on the sites. But Hegseth and President Donald Trump have become increasingly irate over press coverage of the action because of reporting in the last few days which cited a preliminary report stating that the damage to the underground Fordow site wasn't enough to match their claims to have 'obliterated' the facilities. Hegseth complained that the press had reported on the preliminary document and cited other more recent statements from some of Trump's political appointees which assessed that the strikes had 'severely damaged' Iran's nuclear program before returning to attacking journalists and accusing them of wanting the military to fail because it would look bad for Trump. 'You cheer against Trump so hard, it's like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump,' he said. 'Because you want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes.' 'You have to hope maybe they weren't effective, maybe the way the Trump administration is representing them isn't true. So let's take half truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it, spin it in every way we can, to try to cause doubt and manipulate the mind, the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots were successful,' he added. The ex-Fox News host's combative demeanor at the early-morning press conference matched the performative outrage he displayed alongside Trump less than a day before, when he called the bombing mission 'flawless' and said the 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator weapons dropped onto the hardened Fordow site had created 'devastation underneath' before attacking the motives of the Defense Intelligence Agency analysts who'd written the intelligence assessment and accusing news outlets that have reported on it of 'trying to spin it to make the president look bad when this was an overwhelming success.'

Gaelic broadcaster in new funding plea over programme cuts
Gaelic broadcaster in new funding plea over programme cuts

The Herald Scotland

time15 minutes ago

  • The Herald Scotland

Gaelic broadcaster in new funding plea over programme cuts

The broadcaster, which describes its funding outlook as 'extremely challenging' in its new annual report - has suggested its budget is around £10m short of where it should be if it had kept pace with inflation since 2015. Read more: And it has warned that new investment announced by the Scottish Government earlier this year, which increased MG Alba's budget by around £1.4m, to £14.8m, is only a 'one-off' commitment so far. Chair John Morrison described MG Alba's current funding situation as 'extremely challenging.' Sorcha Groundsell starred in the new island crime thriller An t-Eilean. He suggested its funding is around £10m short of where it should be had it kept pace with inflation. Mr Morrison said new investment was also needed to help MG Alba capitalise on a growing shift towards digital viewing on platforms such as YouTube, particularly among younger audiences. He has called for more support to continue making high-quality programmes like island crime thriller An t-Eilean, which was shot on Lewis and Harris with a budget of more than £1 per episode. Mr Morrison said the series had been a 'calculated gamble' for MG Alba has it had used up its entire annual drama budget to invest in the four-part series, which notched up 1.6 million views on the BBC iPlayer after its launch in January. He said although the gamble had paid off, the success of the show, which won two European broadcasting awards last month, had highlighted some of MG Alba's 'most pressing and current challenges. Writing in MG Alba's annual report for 2024-25, he said: 'Linear television continues to be important to us, but most people watched An t-Eilean on the BBC iPlayer, a clear demonstration of the continuing shift to digital viewing. 'The data on digital viewing eclipses anything that is possible on linear TV. The board has been keen to develop and support our policy of Digital First, where content appears other platforms before it appears on our TV channel. 'The reason for this is simple. It is about viewers. More young people watch YouTube in the UK than the combined total of viewing on linear public service TV channels. 'While our viewing figures continue to be healthy – 300,000 people reached every week in Scotland – this number is in a trend of decline and the data is telling us that we are not reaching what we call 'the missing third.' 'Roughly one third of Gaelic speakers do not watch BBC Alba regularly and we believe YouTube and other platforms are a significant part of the solution.' Mr Morrison said MG Alba was hugely appreciated that of an uplift from the Scottish Government, which he said would allow the broadcaster to meet its 'ambitious targets' over the next 12 months. But he added: 'This money is for one year only. To allow MG Alba to develop and grow our impact on screen as well as in the wider economy, we need an assured and growing budget.' MG Alba chief executive Donald Campbell added: 'The number of MG Alba-funded hours of television programmes fell to 325 (in 2024-25) as production costs increased, a fall of 28 per cent over 10 years. 'The decrease in hours is not just the result of financial challenges, but also a consequence of the need for all broadcasters to produce impactful programmes that will stand out from the competition for viewers. 'Such content is usually more expensive, meaning it is not possible to fund as many hours as we would like.'

Army reveals scale of damage done to DC streets following Trump's military parade
Army reveals scale of damage done to DC streets following Trump's military parade

The Independent

time20 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Army reveals scale of damage done to DC streets following Trump's military parade

The U.S. Army has presented its initial assessment of the damage done to the roads of Washington, D.C., by the heavy battle tanks that were a key part of President Donald Trump 's 250th birthday celebration for the military. The president ordered a lavish parade to honor the founding of the Army on June 14, which also happened to be Trump's birthday. In advance of the event, city officials had expressed concern that the tanks participating could place undue strain on Washington's streets, potentially requiring millions of dollars in maintenance work to repair. The budget for the festivities was estimated at $45 million, with $16 million of that total set aside for road repairs. Organizers moved in advance to place thick metal plates, up to 20 feet in length, at turning points along the route to ease the pressure, at a cost of $3 million. Speaking in advance of the event, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she was 'concerned' about the potential scope of the damage. 'These are, for the most part, local streets, and if they're rendered unusable, we have to make them usable,' she said. 'Probably we would fix it and then go seek our money from the Fed. That gives me some concern about fronting costs and waiting for them to get back.' Happily, however, the Army has concluded that the damage to the capital's highways and byways was minimal. 'A tank ran over a curb, and that curb got broken – crushed,' spokesman Steve Warren said. 'So, we will be fixing that. But, right now, that's the only damage that we've identified.' He added that a 'subterranean' assessment of the roads is still ongoing to check whether the parade damaged underground cables or other infrastructure. D.C. Department of Transportation spokesman German Vigil also said a visual survey of city roads had revealed no apparent issues. The National Park Service is meanwhile waiting one month to make a final assessment of possible damage to federally controlled roadways, such as the Mall and the George Washington Parkway. Warren also revealed that the final attendance figures for the parade were approximately 198,000, some way short of the 250,000 claimed by the White House. The event itself largely passed off without adverse incident and appeared to achieve its aims. However, the president allegedly raged at U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth behind the scenes over the troops taking part, in his opinion, for presenting too cheery a demeanor. 'He's p***ed off at the soldiers,' Trump biographer Michael Wolff claimed on The Daily Beast 's podcast in its aftermath. 'He's accusing them of hamming it up, and by that, he seems to mean that they were having a good time, that they were waving, that they were enjoying themselves and showing a convivial face rather than a military face.' The show of military might came on the same day that millions of people took to the streets of America's cities for a 'No Kings' protest against Trump, hours after Minnesota Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered by a political assassin and against a backdrop of unrest in Los Angeles and conflict in the Middle East.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store