Judges are supposed to come unbiased into every case they hear — not without opinions about the legal issues, but without an axe to grind against the parties to the case. Legal ethics rules, however, have long recognized that it is perfectly fine for judges to form negative opinions about the people in their courtroom as a result of the evidence and arguments presented to them. When witnesses and lawyers lie to the judge or disrupt proceedings, reaching conclusions about them isn’t bias, it’s judgment.
This is how I think about Donald Trump’s predicament these days regarding Fox News. The press is a judge, but it is not blind. It is one thing for Trump to complain that, say, MSNBC or Vanity Fair or The View is biased against him. They always were. But Fox and its on-air personalities were once among Trump’s biggest boosters. They gave him regular and preferential on-air access, free airtime, flattering coverage, and vigorous defenses. Fox the organization and its individual commentators were the furthest thing from being biased against Trump throughout the 2016 and 2020 campaigns, his presidency, and even his challenge to the 2020 election.
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