Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones fawned over Sydney Sweeney after a video emerged of the actress hitting targets on a gun range.
Sweeney has courted controversy with her recent “good jeans” ad for American Eagle, which some have argued carries racist messaging, prompting outrage from the right in response.
President Donald Trump jumped into the fray, praising the ad after it was reported that Sweeney is a registered Republican in Florida.
“You love to see it,” said Jones. “For me, as a single guy, anytime I see a young woman that can shoot, her value goes up. That means I can take her home to Texas … That means when I’m away from the family, she’s gonna protect the family. And I think this is beautiful.
“They tried to destroy this woman, and her value is going up. She is just not beautiful, but she can shoot, too? We’re done here. It’s just beautiful.”
The footage of Sweeney at the gun range was shared by Taran Tactical Innovations, an online firearms retailer, on Saturday.
Left-leaning critics of the American Eagle ad campaign have accused the company of spreading “racist” and “Nazi propaganda.” Some have argued that it pushes eugenic ideals with its wordplay on “jeans” and “genes.”
Critics have argued that the two phrases harken back to the debunked racist theory pushed by the Nazis that the human race can be improved via selective breeding.
“Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality, and even eye color,” Sweeney says in one of the ads.
“My jeans are blue,” she adds, before a narrator says, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
Fox News took notes from Trump’s playbook and seemingly used the controversy surrounding the ad to avoid discussing the scandal enveloping the administration in connection with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America found that Fox News spent more than 85 minutes during at least 20 segments discussing the ad through Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, Fox discussed the Epstein files for about three minutes even as Trump claimed that Epstein “stole” one of his accusers, the late Virginia Giuffre, from Mar-a-Lago. Media Matters found that Fox News mentioned Sweeney 62 times, while just mentioning Epstein 14 times.
Trump heaped praise on the jeans ad after Sweeney’s political leanings were reported. The president addressed reporters on the runway in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Sunday night.
“She’s a registered Republican?” Trump asked. “Now I love her ad.”
Previously, on Sunday, it emerged that since June of last year, Sweeney has been registered with the Republican Party of Florida, according to public voting records.
“Is that right? Is Sydney Sweeney… You’d be surprised how many people are Republicans. That’s one I wouldn’t have known, but I’m glad you told me that,” said Trump.
“If Sydney Sweeney is a registered Republican, I think her ad is fantastic,” he added.
“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans,” American Eagle said in a response to the criticism. “Her jeans. Her story.”
“We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way,” the statement added. “Great jeans look good on everyone.”
Trump took to Truth Social on Monday morning to say that “Sydney Sweeney, a registered Republican, has the ‘HOTTEST’ ad out there.”
“It’s for American Eagle, and the jeans are ‘flying off the shelves,’” he claimed.
The president went on to criticise “WOKE” advertising, before taking aim at Taylor Swift, who endorsed his opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, ahead of the 2024 election.
“Or just look at Woke singer Taylor Swift. Ever since I alerted the world as to what she was by saying on TRUTH that I can’t stand her (HATE!),” he said. “She was booed out of the Super Bowl and became, NO LONGER HOT.”
Trump went on to say that “WOKE is for losers” and that the “Republican Party is what you want to be.”
