ProPublica reporter Rob Davis examined months of Fox News coverage and reviewed over 700 videos posted on social media that preceded Trump’s decision to send troops to Portland, Oregon, in September. We found that Fox’s portrayal of “Portland rioters” routinely instigating violence was misleading.
Moreover, the network used five-year-old footage, mislabeled other dates and implied footage from elsewhere was in Portland. The network mislabeled 2020 George Floyd protest footage as part of the 2025 ICE protests and drew a connection between the two periods, saying the “protest chaos” had “severely damaged Portland’s reputation.” (On the webpage for one of its video segments, Fox News added an editor’s note at least two weeks later that read: “This video contains footage from protests in Portland in 2020 and 2025.”)
Trump said what he’d seen about Portland on TV was “unbelievable” and claimed this had been “going on for years.”
A spokesperson for Fox News did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said of action on the ground in Portland: “This isn’t a peaceful protest that’s under control, like many on the left have claimed, it’s radical violence. President Trump is taking lawful action to protect federal law enforcement officers and address the out-of-control violence that local residents have complained about and Democrat leaders have failed to stop.”
