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Andrea Austria / Media Matters

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Greg Gutfeld's toxic and extreme commentary is now moving to Fox News prime time

Gutfeld is Fox’s new 10 p.m. host

Written by Jack Wheatley

Research contributions from Chloe Simon, Jasmine Geonzon, Eric Kleefeld, Helena Hind & Jane Lee

Published

Greg Gutfeld's show has moved up to the 10 p.m. slot from 11 p.m. amid the latest shakeup in Fox News’ prime-time scheduling. He’s spent years at the network spouting bigotry, making sexist comments, and spreading misinformation – literally. This comes as Fox News is under immense pressure following a record defamation lawsuit, and with ratings down following the departure of Tucker Carlson.

Joining Fox in 2007, Gutfeld first hosted the late-night/early-morning talk show Red Eye, which crudely satirized current events and pop culture. He then joined Fox’s program The Five in 2011 as a co-host and panelist, headed The Greg Gutfeld Show from 2015-2021, and eventually began hosting his own weekly late-night program, Gutfeld! Over the years he’s developed an on-air reputation as a far-right bomb-thrower and full-time bigot. 

Gutfeld defended former President Donald Trump after he refused to disavow the neo-fascist street gang the Proud Boys in 2020 and has dismissed violence from far-right militias as “a lie” and “easily disprovable.” Additionally, Gutfeld has minimized attempts by Trump to overturn the election results in Georgia, called for a “peaceful revolution” against mask mandates, and likened climate activists to mass shooters. In 2022, Gutfeld said he wouldn’t go to college now because he doesn’t find the students attractive enough and blamed young girls who “want to look sexy and hot” for their own body image issues.

More recently, Gutfeld and other hosts of The Five reportedly bombed with audience members while making jokes about the Writers Guild of America strike in New York during Fox Corp.’s upfront presentation to media buyers.

Gutfeld’s incendiary and oftentimes downright false statements have covered a variety of topics throughout the years, including guns, abortion, and crime, and he’s trafficked in racism, xenophobia, sexism, and other bigotry.

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  • Racism

    • On May 15, Gutfeld claimed Democrats are lying about the threat of white supremacy to “keep Blacks angry.”
    • On May 4, Gutfeld blamed George Floyd for the killing of Jordan Neely. 
    • On May 1, Gutfeld stated that “wokeism is every bit as racist as white nationalism.”
    • On April 12, Gutfeld claimed that “the first rung onto the ladder of capitalism often is drug dealing for Blacks.”
    • On March 13, Gutfeld said that “white leftists do worse things to Blacks than the Aryan Nations ever could.”
    • On January 10, Gutfeld suggested that President Joe Biden is hiding “Barack Obama’s real birth certificate” and using it for blackmail.
    • In February 2022, Gutfeld argued that podcaster Joe Rogan’s repeated use of a racial slur is acceptable because “Blacks see that the word is being used as a tool.”
    • In January 2022, Gutfeld accused Democrats of “race warfare” which he said would lead “towards revolution.”
    • In November 2021, Gutfeld said that Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears “dared to leave the plantation of ideology.”
    • Also in November 2021, Gutfeld claimed Democrats are teaching children that “being white at birth is bad.”
    • In June 2021, Gutfeld said the U.S. military has adopted a “racist theology” against white people.
    • Also in June 2021, Gutfeld argued that “police go to where the crime is. That's high crime areas where decent people of color live, but also riffraff.”
    • Reacting to Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict in April 2021, Gutfeld said, “I’m glad that he was found guilty on all charges, even if he might not be guilty of all charges."
    • Also in April 2021, Gutfeld attacked the media for supposedly not covering “positive interactions” with police and creating a perception it’s “hunting season for Blacks.”
    • In March 2021, Gutfeld said that Meghan Markle cynically exploited “the racial obsession embraced by Western media.”
    • In September 2020, Gutfeld defended Trump's refusal to denounce white supremacy and right-wing extremist groups. One month earlier, he declared that mentioning Trump's remarks about “very fine people” at Charlottesville isn't “healthy for America.” 
    • ​​In June 2020, Gutfeld dismissed police brutality against Black people and instead blamed videos of such brutality for sending America toward “a race war.”
    • In May 2020, Gutfeld blamed “the unbending mind” for the killing of George Floyd and questioned what happened before the video started.
    • Also in May 2020, Gutfeld compared disgraced Gen. Mike Flynn to the Central Park Five, who were wrongly convicted of rape.
    • In April 2020, Gutfeld attacked Michigan’s governor for criticizing swastikas at a social distancing protest, claiming they were being displayed ironically. 
    • In September 2017, Gutfeld suggested Black NFL players should devote more time to talking about violence between Black men instead of police brutality.
    • In August 2017, Gutfeld asked, “Do we really need to push for an increase in diversity anymore?”
    • In June 2016, Gutfeld suggested shortening the Muslim holiday of Ramadan to decrease terrorism.
    • In March 2016, Gutfeld claimed Obama received political “immunity” because he was “the first Black candidate.”
    • In January 2016, Gutfeld said liberals don't want to enforce gun laws because “that means there will be more Blacks in jail.”
    • In September 2012, Gutfeld used the racist birther smear against Obama to criticize Daniel Day-Lewis’ casting in Lincoln because “we’re outsourcing our presidents”: “First, we have a Kenyan in the White House, and now we have a Brit playing Lincoln.”
    • In August 2012, Gutfeld said Democratic policies have “infantilized” Black Americans and “made them addicted to crappy programs.”
    • In July 2011, Gutfeld claimed some Black Americans voted for Obama “because it would sound traitorous if they didn’t.” 

  • Sexism and misogyny

    • On May 23, Gutfeld applauded a high school teacher charged with engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a 16-year-old student, adding, “Come on! 16 years old — I would have died for that!”
    • On March 16, Gutfeld said that Vice President Kamala Harris sounds like “a woman at the bar on her fourth skinny margarita.”
    • On February 1, Gutfeld called climate activist Greta Thunberg “that bug-eyed brat.”
    • In October 2022, Gutfeld said he wouldn’t go to college now because he doesn’t find the students attractive enough.
    • In September 2022, Gutfeld called Thunberg one of the “shrieking psycho brats” who have “poisoned the dialogue with hysteria.”
    • Also in September 2022, Gutfeld called support for reproductive rights a “psychosis” led by “young, angry single women.”
    • Responding to the Supreme Court vacancy in January 2022, Gutfeld and other co-hosts mocked reports of sexual assault.
    • In September 2021, Gutfeld blamed young girls who “want to look sexy and hot” for their own body image issues: “This is a girls problem created by girls.”
    • In April 2021, Gutfeld compared CNN to a date rapist.
    • In October 2020, Gutfeld called Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and then-Sen. Kamala Harris “petty” and “jealous” “mean girls.”
    • In April 2017, Gutfeld told a colleague on air that she was giving America an erection. 
    • In March 2016, Gutfeld accused Hillary Clinton of “bigotry against men” and said she “sounds like the product of two car alarms mating.” 
    • Also in March 2016, Gutfeld said Clinton's greatest “sin” was that she “doesn't care about men's concerns.”
    • In July 2011, Gutfeld said Congress raising the debt ceiling is “like a wife and her credit cards. Americans have to be the husband that takes the credit card and breaks it up.”

  • Xenophobia

    • In January 2022, Gutfeld called immigration a “slow rolling insurrection.”
    • In September 2021, Gutfeld said the Geneva Conventions are “overrated” and called for the execution of enemy prisoners of war.
    • In June 2021, Gutfeld fearmongered that a 5-year-old immigrant who was abandoned at the border could be connected to drug dealers.
    • In April 2021, Gutfeld said refugees seeking asylum at the southern border are in a “win-win” situation.
    • In March 2021, Gutfeld compared living in America with increased immigration to living in a “rough neighborhood” without an alarm system.
    • Also in March 2021, Gutfeld said it's “a load of hooey” that any families were separated at the border under Trump.
    • In September 2017, Gutfeld claimed that Trump got a lot of his ideas about immigration from watching The Five.

  • Anti-LGBTQ hate

    • In December 2022, Gutfeld said he uses the label “groomer” in retaliation for being called a racist.
    • In August 2022, Gutfeld used a study about self-driving cars to make transphobic comments.
    • In June 2019, Gutfeld claimed LGBTQ advocates are transitioning kids to be trans in order to eliminate gay and lesbian people, comparing the practice to dangerous and discredited anti-LGBTQ conversion therapy.
    • In May 2016, Gutfeld complained Obama “is declaring war on bathrooms” as ISIS “works 24/7 on our demise, while we're sitting here wondering about gender pronouns.”
    • In February 2012, Gutfeld said the media would love NBA player Jeremy Lin more “if he was a transgendered female.”

  • Election denial

    • In May 2021, Gutfeld made a pathetic, bumbling dodge when asked if Biden was the legitimate winner of the presidential election.
    • In April 2021, Gutfeld claimed that opponents of Georgia’s voter suppression think “photo IDs are worse than slave labor and genocide.” 
    • In January 2021, Gutfeld dismissed Trump’s attempt to change Georgia election results as “the latest media hoax.”

  • Climate denial

    • On April 28, Gutfeld likened climate activists to mass shooters.
    • On April 21, Gutfeld said the concept of “environmental justice” was designed to bully people into believing in climate change.
    • On April 12, Gutfel claimed climate change “improves people's lives.”
    • In February 2022, Gutfeld put blame on Greta Thunberg for the Ukrainian invasion: “Maybe she'll drop solar panels down into Kyiv to save people.”
    • In September 2021, Gutfeld claimed that the data to prove climate change is “never there.”
    • In August 2021, Gutfeld dismissed climate change: “Warming temperatures saves more lives in other parts of the world.”
    • In May 2021, Gutfeld said the climate crisis “does not exist.”
    • Opening The Five, Gutfeld in June 2013 said climate skeptics “were right all along” and said Obama was “denying science” in his climate change speech.
    • In October 2016, Gutfeld said climate change consensus is the “radical Islam of science,” adding, “You have to wonder about a belief system that doesn't want any challenges, that doesn't want any of their theories to be questioned.” 
    • In April 2016, Gutfeld said that climate scientists “have a lot in common with ISIS cause they both wanna go back to the 7th century.”
    • In August 2011, Gutfeld promoted drilling for oil in the Everglades, saying, “It’s just a big swamp. … I would drill everywhere.”

  • Guns

    • In July 2022, Gutfeld claimed the media “can decrease these shootings by 30%” by ignoring them.
    • In June 2022, Gutfeld falsely claimed that no person with a concealed carry permit has ever committed a mass shooting. 
    • In April 2021, Gutfeld blamed gun violence on “the defund movement and the Ferguson effect.”
    • In January 2022, Gutfeld said, “We are a country of fighters, and we will do it again by February 1. Because, you know what? We can. We've got the Second Amendment. We run this country.”
    • In September 2020, Gutfeld said that if protests continued, “that Second Amendment starts looking miraculous.”
    • Also in September 2020, Gutfeld dismissed violence from right-wing militias as “a lie” and “easily disprovable.”
    • In August 2019, Gutfeld said that nothing can be done to stop mass shootings and blamed the media for amplifying the massacres. 
    • In June 2016, Gutfeld declared “It's homophobic” not to allow guns in gay bars following the Pulse nightclub mass shooting.
    • In January 2016, Gutfeld suggested “we return to the days of the Wild West” and promoted more guns to stop terrorism. 

  • January 6

    • In July 2022, Gutfeld made the ridiculous claim that the January 6 hearings were “exonerating Trump.”
    • In June 2022, Gutfeld whined that “no mercy” was “being shown for the January 6 protesters.”
    • In July 2021, Gutfeld described the January 6 insurrection as merely politicians having their jobs “disrupted for two hours.”

  • Abortion

    • In November 2022, Gutfeld dismissed the importance of abortion rights to voters.
    • In September 2022, Gutfeld called support for reproductive rights a “psychosis” led by “young, angry single women.”
    • In May 2022, Gutfeld said it “seems pretty gross” to state that abortion access impacts the poor.
    • In May 2012, Gutfeld questioned why the public knew how Obama felt about same-sex marriage but not abortion, saying: “I wonder if its because gays have deeper pockets than fetuses?”

  • Covid misinformation

    • While isolated from his colleagues as a COVID-19 precaution In January 2022, Gutfeld declared that “the pandemic is over.”
    • In September 2021, Gutfeld called for a “peaceful revolution” over mask mandates.
    • In August 2021, Gutfeld blamed Obama's birthday party for low vaccination rates among Black Americans.
    • In February 2021, Gutfeld predicted that “history is going to be kind to Trump” for his coronavirus response.
    • In January 2021, Gutfeld called Biden “the angel of death” of coronavirus messaging.
    • In March 2020, Gutfeld dismissed Trump's coronavirus press briefing lies: No one “takes Trump word for word.” 
    • On The Five in May 2020, Gutfeld responded to a report that 66% of roughly 600 new COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York State by saying the statistic shows that “the disease came and got them” in their homes, and “staying home doesn’t help anymore after we flattened this curve.” He also warned the media to now “be super, super careful” about criticizing people who violate stay-at-home orders.
    • In August 2020, Gutfeld suggested it's “tyrannical” for Biden to urge governments to enact mask mandates.
    • In November 2020, as the country hit a crisis moment with COVID-19, Gutfeld declared: “We're not in a crisis moment.”