Since launching on Oct. 7, 1996, Fox News has spent three decades pumping misinformation, bigotry, and political bile into American life. The network has relentlessly attacked liberal values, vilified Democrats, and elevated right wing extremism.

Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch started Fox after using outlets including The Sun and the New York Post to push global politics toward the right. Former Richard Nixon adviser Roger Ailes designed the network using his memo, “A Plan for Putting the GOP on TV News,” as a template.

Fox marketed itself as “fair and balanced,” but its programming became an attack machine aimed squarely at the left. Democrats have been torn down and mocked while right wing political figures and priorities received a powerful platform.

Over the past 30 years, Fox has worked to suppress Democratic votes while improving the political fortunes of right wing extremists. Its influence has extended across presidential politics, congressional elections, major policy debates, and the Republican Party itself.

As former President Barack Obama rose to power, Fox helped create a narrative portraying him as an untrustworthy “other.” The network falsely depicted Obama as a Muslim extremist whose background was supposedly steeped in socialism, communism, and Marxism.

For nearly two decades, Obama, the first Black president in U.S. history, has remained Fox’s senior boogeyman. The network has repeatedly placed him behind negative narratives about the left, turning his name and presidency into fuel for its political attacks.

Fox also targeted Bill and Hillary Clinton from its earliest days, initially concentrating on Bill, who was president when the network launched. It later became a central part of the smear operation directed at Hillary Clinton.

The network placed itself at the front of opposition to health care reform and abortion while supporting a tax system favoring the wealthy. It also became a vocal advocate for Republican war plans, most notably former President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq based on lies about weapons of mass destruction.

To support President Donald Trump, Fox transformed itself into a misinformation clearinghouse for COVID-19. Thousands of people have likely died as a direct result of the network’s lies, according to the source article’s assessment of its conduct.

Fox has devoted thousands of hours to attacking women’s rights and equality, advocating racism and police brutality against Black people, and denigrating Latino rights, especially for immigrants. It has also targeted LGBTQ+ people, with particularly vicious attention directed at vulnerable children.

Executives and personalities at Fox have pushed ideas that make it harder for poor and working class people to advance. Their efforts have exacerbated obstacles within a system already significantly rigged against those communities.

Despite its success spreading hate and ignorance, Fox has also failed spectacularly. After the 2020 election, it became a global embarrassment by helping Republican attempts to falsely claim that Trump’s defeat resulted from a stolen election.

Those election lies carried an enormous price. Dominion Voting Systems sued over false reports alleging that it helped Democrats steal the race, and Fox was forced into a massive settlement of nearly $800 million, delivering a significant blow to the profits of Murdoch’s international media empire.

Fox has also been unable to prevent major Republican election losses. Democrats took control of the House in 2006 and 2018, retained the presidency in 1996 soon after Fox launched, and won presidential elections in 2008, 2012, and 2020.

The network nevertheless maintains a death grip on the Republican Party. Fox figures including Pete Hegseth, Jeanine Pirro, Dan Bongino, and Kimberly Figueroa went on to serve in the Trump administration after the network helped build Trump into a legitimate political figure.

That open door between Fox and the Trump administration makes political sense for both sides, even as it remains deeply unethical. Fox occupies a unique position in U.S. politics and media, but its influence does not amount to absolute control over the country.

Voters have repeatedly tuned out the network’s bigotry, smears, and right wing fever dreams. Fox may command Trump’s attention and dominate much of the Republican Party, but its repeated political and financial defeats show that the network is not invulnerable and can lose.