Fox News showed its audience a mug shot of former President Trump after he was booked on criminal charges in Fulton County, Ga., on Thursday.
“Let’s just take that in for a second,” host Jesse Watters said as the image of Trump scowling and looking into the camera was displayed on the screen. “You do see some anger in the eyes, and I don’t like the ghoulish coverage of it.”
Watters suggested CNN, a frequent foil of Trump and various other hosts on Fox, “had the mug shot leaked to them before the rest of the media,” adding, “That tells you everything you know about the process.”
CNN was among the first news outlets to publish Trump’s mug shot.
Watters is one of many Trump supporters who host a prime-time show on Fox, the top-watched cable news channel.
Trump has been sharply critical of the conservative media giant for months over its coverage of him and skipped Wednesday night’s GOP debate hosted by the network in part because of what he has called a “hostile” relationship with the outlet.
The GOP front-runner for president in 2024 by double digits according to most polls, Trump was charged in Georgia last week along with more than a dozen of his lawyers and associates in connection with his efforts to overturn the state’s election results.
It was his fourth criminal indictment this year, with the three others relating to his personal business dealings, handling classified documents and efforts to stop the congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.
Trump has maintained his innocence in all of his criminal cases and has said the prosecutions he faces are political in nature.