GREENVALE, N.Y. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump mentioned Thursday night time in accepting the “Patriot of the Year” award at Fox Nation’s Patriot Awards that he has already completed extra since his election victory than President Joe Biden has in his complete time period.
Trump, who has been largely ensconced at Mar-a-Lago in latest weeks as he’s been saying job picks for his administration, traveled to New York’s Lengthy Island for the annual awards ceremony from the Fox Information streaming platform.
“I think you have seen more happen in the last two weeks than you have in the last four years,” Trump advised the gang on the Tilles Heart for the Performing Arts.
“It was a tremendous day, a tremendous night,” he mentioned of his election victory in a 10-minute acceptance speech that seemed like a spotlight reel of his marketing campaign rally speeches, full with a stay efficiency of “God Bless the USA” by the singer Lee Greenwood, calls to “get the criminals out of our country” and an embrace of all-paper election ballots and obligatory voter ID.
Trump additionally famous the conversations he’s had with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum since he threatened two of the nation’s prime buying and selling companions with a 25% tariff on all imported items until they do extra to deal with unlawful border crossings and drug flows.
“Justin came flying right in,” Trump mentioned in reference to Trudeau’s journey to Mar-a-Lago. That prompted some within the viewers to chant “51!” — a reference to Trump apparently joking at his dinner with Trudeau that Canada might change into the 51st U.S. state.
The annual awards “honor and recognize America’s finest patriots, including military veterans, first responders and other inspirational everyday heroes,” in accordance with Fox. The occasion was hosted by Fox host Sean Hannity, a pal of Trump’s who stepped in after the president-elect nominated Pete Hegseth, the unique host, as protection secretary.
Amongst these acknowledged Thursday night time have been conservative actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron; Gen. Dick Cody, who used his personal helicopter to ship provides to folks after Hurricane Helene; and Jonathan Diller, the New York Police Division officer who was killed throughout a visitors cease in Queens. His widow, Stephanie, obtained a standing ovation and thanked Trump for his help. Others invoked Trump as effectively.
The ceremony additionally honored Paws of Battle, a company that gives service canine to veterans and helps these serving abroad carry animals they meet in conflict zones to the U.S. One such reunion occurred onstage, as a service member was reunited with a canine he’d cared for whereas deployed.
The heartfelt moments have been juxtaposed towards the boisterous and incendiary political fare that loyal watchers of Fox hosts like Hannity count on.
The anchor used his introduction to take an election victory lap, boasting that Democrats “got their ass kicked.” He performed “YMCA” — the music Trump has lengthy used to shut out his rallies — and invited viewers members to bounce just like the president-elect. And he supplied a sequence of impressions, mimicking former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s enthusiasm and Biden showing misplaced, full with a backdrop of the rainforest the place he spoke throughout a latest journey to the Amazon.
Later, he donned an orange security vest — a nod to the one Trump wore when he delivered a press convention from a rubbish truck in the course of the marketing campaign after Biden recommended Trump’s supporters have been rubbish.
The present was initially set to be hosted by Hegseth, who left his place at Fox when Trump tapped him to run the Pentagon — a nomination that’s at present in jeopardy over allegations of sexual assault and extreme consuming, which Hegseth denies.
Members of the viewers cheered when Hegseth appeared in a video that was performed to showcase the tales of Division of Veterans Affairs whistleblowers. Fox personalities Rachel Campos-Duffy and Will Cain mentioned after the looks that Hegseth would “make one hell of” a secretary of protection.
Trump’s award additionally marks the end result of Fox’s reembrace of the president-elect, who has had an up-and-down relationship with the community lately.
Fox paid $787 million in 2023 to settle a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Methods over false claims by Fox personalities who echoed Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him by way of mass voter fraud. For greater than six months ending in spring 2023, Fox had what many thought of a “soft ban” on Trump appearances, with its leaders trying to transfer on. However when it grew to become clear that voters didn’t need to, Fox and its personalities have been fast to embrace Trump once more.
Particular person personalities have undergone their very own journeys: Former Fox host Megyn Kelly drew Trump’s ire in a 2015 debate for her sharp query about his therapy of ladies; now she’s a well-liked podcast host and Trump supporter. The Dominion lawsuit uncovered emails wherein former Fox host Tucker Carlson spoke disparagingly of Trump, together with saying he “truly can’t wait” for Trump to change into an ex-president. They’ve since made amends.
By means of all of it, Trump has been fast to take to social media to criticize Fox for content material he deems insufficiently loyal.
On Thursday, he was extra magnanimous.
“You have incredible people at Fox,” he mentioned earlier than quipping, “A couple I don’t like.”
Trump has begun to emerge extra in public since spending most of his transition up to now behind closed doorways at his membership in Palm Seashore, Florida. This week, he made an unannounced look at a memorial service for 3 Palm Seashore County Sheriff’s Workplace deputies who have been killed in a automotive crash final month.
This weekend, he’ll journey to Paris to hitch different world leaders and dignitaries for a ceremony to have fun the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, which was devastated by a hearth 5 years in the past.
AP Media Author David Bauder contributed to this report.
