Fox News’ Jessica Tarlov Opens Up About Dealing With Trump Complaints

As the sole liberal voice on Fox News’ The Five, Jessica Tarlov is used to facing criticism from the right, including from the President of the United States himself.

The former Democratic strategist opened up about how she handles attacks from Donald Trump in a new interview with The Guardian. Tarlov, who recently signed a new deal with Fox News, was asked whether Trump’s criticisms ever make her fear for her position at the network.

“No. I mean, I think that [Fox News chief executive] Suzanne Scott and the entire leadership team know exactly who I am, and that they want me to keep doing what I’m doing,” Tarlov said. “And if it aggravates [Trump] – he would just get annoyed at somebody else anyway. If he’s in a bad mood, he’s in a bad mood.”

Tarlov, who released her new book, I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends, on Tuesday (September 15), explained how she doesn’t think Trump himself believes that his calls for Fox to fire her will actually lead to anything.

“I’ve never had a conversation with him, but the idea of posting ‘Dear Fox executives, fire Jessica Tarlov’ or calling into The Five and saying the show would be better without her, I don’t think he thinks that means that I’m going to get fired from my job,” she stated.

Tarlov said that Fox News doesn’t take the bait when it comes to Trump insulting its hosts and reporters. “There’s no reason to, and honestly it just makes it worse,” she added.

As for whether any of her Fox News colleagues have ever gone to bat for her when speaking with Trump, Tarlov revealed that former The Five cohost Jeanine Pirro “had said something to him about, like, ‘She’s great.'”

“But the general feeling is that if you feed the beast, it gets worse, and that it is going to be probably worse for me if somebody goes to the mat about it,” she continued. “I know who I am. I know what my relationship is like with them. I know what their relationships with him are like as well, and I don’t need anybody’s help that way. My skin is thick enough for this hand that I’ve been dealt.”

While some viewers, including Trump, might not be fans of Tarlov’s presence on the network, she said those she’s met in public have always spoken positively about her contributions.

“When I meet fans of The Five out in the wild, they love the dynamic and the personal relationships, especially with Jesse [Watters] and Greg [Gutfeld],” she explained. “With Jesse, it’s very sibling-y, and they like the pointed back-and-forth and how we have relationships, frankly, that mirror what their real lives look like. I think it’s soothing in that way.”

Tarlov added, “And a lot of cable news doesn’t have that interplay… Obviously I’m outnumbered, but I’m the genuine article, and they’re the genuine article, and I think people like that.”