“I think it’s important, when Tom Homan rolls this out, they want to show the image of Tom Homan callously saying these families that have been here nine years and they’re just trying to work under the radar they’re the problem,” Kilmeade added.

Lawrence Jones, his fellow co-host, agreed. “You know what’s going to happen on the other side. You’re going to have AOC and company crying at the gates, again.” Jones concluded, “You’ve got to have a media strategy.”

His reference to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was a frequently mentioned (in conservative circles) 2018 protest she participated in against the Trump administration’s family separation policy and children being housed in a tent city in El Paso, Texas.

The international and domestic fallout to the separation policy was a hallmark of Trump’s first term and what the Fox hosts are hoping to avoid via their on-air advice. Concerns are elevated following a recent appearance from Homan on Fox where he said the incoming administration would pursue cutting off federal funds from states whose governors refuse to comply with mass deportation.

Not only was the United States criticized around the world on family separation, but reunification of those families is also a project that the Biden administration has had to focus on for four years—with some families still torn apart.

The advice offered by the Fox hosts is not merely punditry, but an acknowledgement that there is a revolving door between the political world around Trump and the conservative network. Trump hires faces from Fox, implements Fox-backed policies, and Fox responds by manipulating the news to assist Trump and amplifying pro-Trump rhetoric and ideas.

In this instance Fox is effectively giving Trump a heads-up and marching orders, and history shows he is very likely to do as instructed.