OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The hosts of ‘Fox & Friends’ have made an announcement that is going to change the show forever.
On Thursday it was announced that Lawrence Jones would be the new cohost of the network’s flagship morning show.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled today,” he said to his new colleagues Ainsley Earnhardt and Brian Kilmeade, as well as Pete Hegseth who was on as a fill in host. “I started on Fox and Friends when I was 20 — it was my (first) national TV appearance. At 30, this is the opportunity of the (lifetime).”
“We’ve been so proud of you,” Earnhardt said. “We’ve watched all of this progress. You’re one of the nicest people. You love the Lord. You love the South, you love Texas, your family. You just fit right in.”
Fox News’ senior vice president of morning programming Gavin Hadden issued a press release that announced Jones’ new job and what would happen to his Saturday primetime show.
Beginning Monday, September 18th, Jones will join co-hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade from 6-9 AM/ET on weekday mornings and will also continue in his role as the franchise’s enterprise reporter. The announcement was made on this morning’s program with Doocy, Earhardt and Kilmeade as well as Will Cain, Rachel Campos-Duffy and Pete Hegseth who co-host FOX & Friends Weekend (Saturdays & Sundays 6-10 AM/ET), senior meteorologist Janice Dean and Todd Piro & Carley Shimkus who helm FOX & Friends First (weekday mornings 5-6 AM/ET).
Jones’ weekend program Lawrence Jones Cross Country will be sunset, and One Nation with Brian Kilmeade will now air at 9 PM/ET on Saturday evenings.
In commenting on the announcement, FNC’s senior vice president of morning programming Gavin Hadden said, “Lawrence has his finger on the pulse of what matters to communities across America and his insight has proved invaluable to the FOX & Friends audience. We look forward to welcoming him to our family as he wakes up America alongside our star co-hosts each morning.”
Jones added, “I am honored to become a part of the cable news legacy FOX News has created with FOX & Friends, the very show where I made my first ever national television appearance. It is truly a privilege to inform our audience every day and I can’t wait to do so each morning.”
At 30 years old, Jones is the youngest Black co-host in cable news. He joined FNC in 2018 and quickly made his mark with his in-depth reporting on the impact of national issues on local communities. In 2021, he was named FOX & Friends’ enterprise reporter where he showcases a multitude of local and national stories, spotlighting issues that resonate with everyday Americans and interviewing newsmakers across the political and cultural spectrum.
As host of Lawrence Jones Cross Country, which ran from January 2022 through last week, Jones traveled from coast-to-coast to bring Americans the latest on the issues that impact them and sat down for wide-ranging discussions with the decision makers that drive them. He also covered the University of Idaho student murders for Cross Country devoting four hour-long programs to the story while on the ground live in Moscow, Idaho. Most recently, he interviewed 2024 Republican presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, among others.
Additionally, Jones has filled in as guest-host for FNC’s top-rated programs throughout primetime. During his tenure at FOX News Media, he has reported extensively on the rise in violence across the country and, in 2020, hosted a primetime weekend special examining the state of race relations from the perspectives of civil rights activists, religious leaders and law enforcement officials. Jones also presented a special FOX Nation event that featured an interview with NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace about his career and activism in the Black Lives Matter movement. A native of Garland, Texas, Jones attended the University of North Texas.
For more than two decades, FOX & Friends has been the highest-rated cable news morning show franchise and finished the most recent full year with 1.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The FOX & Friends co-hosts highlight the latest in news, weather, sports, and entertainment each morning with a casual and spontaneous discourse. As cable’s premier morning show, FOX & Friends is on pace to be the most watched in its timeslot for 23 consecutive years and tops the competition across the board.
