She’s Donald Trump’s least-favorite Fox News host. But Jessica Tarlov remains undeterred

Jessica Tarlov is the left-leaning Fox News host that some of the network’s most conservative viewers, including Donald Trump, love to hate.

The US president regularly bashes Tarlov on his Truth Social platform, in April calling her “one of the Least Attractive and Talented People on all of Television”, and demanding that Fox “GET HER OFF THE AIR.”

But, as a rotating co-host of political talkshow The Five, the 42-year-old former pollster and Democratic strategist has carved out a prominent role for herself as the network’s most capable messenger for the left, regularly doing battle with conservative co-panelists like Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld. She also recently signed a new contract, meaning she will be a regular presence on Fox for years to come.

Still, some critics have consistently questioned what Tarlov is able to accomplish, considering she is totally outnumbered on the show by conservatives.

Jessica Tarlov’s book ‘I Disagree’ Photograph: Random House

In a new book published Tuesday called I Disagree: Winning Arguments Without Losing Friends, Tarlov lays out how she became Fox’s go-to Democrat – and offers advice for readers on how they can effectively message their own political points in heated environments.

“I think the dance can be really complicated and you’re spending a lot of time thinking about the right balance between being friendly and firm, and how you can create connective tissue and olive branches with someone that you disagree with in a way that signals to the audience that you are a part of the conversation and that you’re leading with humanity, but that your point of view is worth tussling with for them,” she said.

This interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

In your book, you write that you initially faced skepticism from those in your circle and professional network about your decision to appear as a Democrat on Fox News. Nearly a decade later, do you still face the same kind of pushback?

Not really. I think people are pretty clear about who I am and what I’m doing. I have enough experience, also, with the type of debating or disagreeing that I do to know that it isn’t about facilitating a conservative, looking better, or making the truth safe to hear for other people. That there’s real advocacy going on, and a real desire to be in this very important bipartisan arena. And so yeah, I don’t think people feel that way. And also now that I’m a co-host on The Five for four and a half years, and just signed a new deal, that’s where I live – for a while. So I think people understand that it’s something that’s really important to me and part of my identity.

Do you sense that the audience likes your presence on the show?

In general, yes. I do. I mean, if you look at my Twitter timeline, no, those people do not enjoy my presence. And the ones who are doing petitions on Facebook and email [Fox News chief executive] Suzanne Scott daily about getting me off The Five, especially because there’s a picture of me with [progressive streamer] Hasan Piker, which apparently means that I’m Hasan Piker’s wife or something like that and condone everything that he’s ever said. But in general, and when I meet fans of The Five out in the wild, they love the dynamic and the personal relationships, especially with Jesse and Greg. 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. 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.

Fox News seems to have a longstanding policy of not taking the bait and responding to Trump’s attacks on its employees. Do you ever worry that Trump’s criticisms will affect your standing at Fox?

No. I mean, I think that Suzanne Scott and the entire leadership team know exactly who I am, and that they want me to keep doing what I’m doing. And if it aggravates him – he would just get annoyed at somebody else anyway. If he’s in a bad mood, he’s in a bad mood. And I think that he understands that as well. 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. … But yes, in general, we don’t respond to it, and there’s no reason to, and honestly it just makes it worse.

Have you ever asked one of your co-hosts who talks regularly to Trump to ask him to cut it out?

They have said stuff like, “Oh, come on, we love her.” 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. I’m pretty sure that [former The Five co-host Jeanine Pirro], when she was on the show, had said something to him about, like, “She’s great.” But 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.

Do you think you provide more value by being one of the few left-leaning commentators on Fox rather than being part of a larger group of similarly minded pundits on a network like MS Now or CNN?

Yeah, I don’t think that there’s any comparison in terms of the type of conversation or back-and-forth across ideological differences that you’re having, but [also] in sheer size of audience. And it’s not just conservatives. We have more Democrats and independents watching too. … And also it’s not that fun talking to people who agree with you all the time. I have that in my personal life. We’re all kind of various denominations of left-leaning, except I have one uncle who voted for Trump on Israel in 2024, which is pretty common now within liberal Jewish families. So I think I have the coolest job in media, definitely for a liberal. I feel that way, even if it’s tough sometimes.

You said that you want to be known as “a partisan that is focused on winning elections”. Do you think your role on The Five helps Democrats win elections?

I understand that my commentary or a clip of me can affect people in a multitude of ways, but I am in a long-term relationship with my colleagues and the viewers of The Five, where I’m trying to open them up to the notion that there are sane lefties out there, even if I’m a more moderate lefty, and that it isn’t the end of the world – the apocalypse is not coming – if we’re coming into office. And to also point out the places where there is agreement, because I think people are really hungry for that. They want to see the dialogue, and they want to see the friendships because their real life looks like that. And they want to hear about ideas from the other side from somebody that really believes in it too. And I don’t say things I don’t believe in.