Fox News’ MAGA stars have spent Donald Trump’s second term lavishing praise on the president and his purported accomplishments, denouncing his opponents in vitriolic terms and telling their viewers which culture war enemies to hate. But any understanding of the goals of a political outlet like Fox is incomplete without considering the stories it doesn’t cover: a list that, as of late, includes the Iran war, the Trump family’s alleged corruption and the president’s unpopularity. This negative space in Fox’s coverage largely emphasizes its hosts’ choices, just as an artist’s use of the empty area around a subject is part of their work (though at times, the network’s executives seem to be calling the shots).

And while it’s hardly novel for Fox to dodge bad news for Republicans, the network’s hosts are going to remarkable lengths in Trump’s second term to avoid what should be important subjects.

Within Fox’s negative space are stories that the network’s stars seem loath to defend or even acknowledge to their viewers. That’s a high bar, considering that Fox hosts eagerly covered the various indictments of Trump for storing highly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and fomenting an insurrection. Yet network stars like Sean Hannity won’t even try to explain, for example, why it is appropriate for a Russian oligarch to bankroll the president’s son’s wedding. These omissions speak to just how damning Fox talent may consider such narratives for the MAGA movement and Republican Party.