Trump's friend and top Fox cheerleader Eric Bolling fired over sexual harassment scandal

Huffpost reports that Fox has “parted ways” with Bolling. He hosted and co-hosted several shows at the conservative propaganda network, most recently “Fox News Specialists.”

Before losing his position, it was reported that at least three of Bolling’s coworkers at the network said he had sent them inappropriate text messages, including photos of male genitals.

Bolling was an early booster of Trump at the network, describing himself in 2015 as “a fan” when Trump launched his political campaign. Bolling also admitted on-air to a colleague that he “loves” to talk about Trump at the network.

He called himself “a friend” of the Trump family, and described those calling for boycotts of Trump’s brands because of his racist comments about Latinos as “economic terrorists.”

The relationship isn’t surprising, as the two men share a lot in common. The allegations about Bolling’s text messaging habits echo Trump’s dismissive and misogynistic views about women, including Trump’s infamous bragging about sexually assaulting women. Echoing his hero, Bolling once spoke about a female fighter pilot flying missions against ISIS as “boobs on the ground.”

Misogyny isn’t the only common thread between Bolling and Trump. Both men were true believers in the “birther” conspiracy theory that falsely claimed President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Both men made their claims on-air at Fox. While Trump hung out with “Fox & Friends” to push his side of the fake news story, Bolling was blowing up gigantic copies of Obama’s birth certificate in a harebrained effort to prove they were fakes.

Trump and Bolling were also racism enthusiasts together. Trump’s long history of racist comments and ideas dovetails well with repeated racist incidents instigated at Fox by Bolling.

A few examples: Bolling said President Obama was “chugging 40s;” accused him of hosting “hoods in the hizzy” when the president of Gabon visited the White House; and said rappers should be happy white people are buying “the black” music and “financing their lifestyles.”

Bolling is the latest major Fox News figure to be dispatched over the last year, all connected to sexual harassment and/or assault. Network founder Roger Ailes was forced out after a series of women emerged and detailed his history of sexual abuse. Prime time fixture Bill O’Reilly was let go after multiple woman accused him of sexual harassment.

Fox News incubated a culture of sexual harassment and misogyny both behind the scenes and on-air, then tried to cover it up only to have it blow up in their faces years later. Bolling is just the latest domino to fall, while other hosts continue to whip up hatred and conspiracies to their millions of viewers.

This is the culture that helped build Donald Trump into a political figure, and it is a network that continues to prop up him and the hateful conservatism they share.