Last week Fox News was desperate to talk about anything, but the latest scandals unearthed in the Epstein files, Trump’s falling poll numbers, Democratic wins in deeply red districts, and the president’s virulently racist social media post that depicted former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as apes.

The network dedicated most of its airtime to the alleged abduction of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Savannah Guthrie, one of the anchors of The Today Show on NBC.

Fox News turned into a true crime channel with a singular focus of covering every tiny detail of Guthrie’s disappearance. Producers played the emotional pleas of the Guthrie family on a loop while a series of guests who were mostly retired FBI agents gave their expert opinion on the case.

For most of the week there were few developments that changed much about the mysterious crime. The network’s excessive coverage felt exploitative of a vulnerable family trapped in a nightmarish situation.

In between long segments about the shocking case Fox News included stories about Trump’s saber-rattling towards Iran and any segment that depicted ICE agents as victims.

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