Thursday, FOX News Media announced that Lawrence Jones is now a permanent member of the “FOX & Friends” staff.
“FOX & Friends” presented a montage of Jones’ greatest moments as an enterprise correspondent, visiting and interviewing Americans in diners and other locations across the country. Beginning September 18, he will join co-hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade from 6 to 9 a.m. on weekday mornings.
“I feel like when it comes to the couch, you really feel America. We have this incredible opportunity to represent our audience every single day on the couch, and I’m so grateful, humbled. I’m going to learn a lot from you all, and it’s going to be a fun ride,” Jones said Thursday on the show.
Jones, who is 30 years old, is the youngest African American co-host in the field of television news.
“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,” FOX News Channel senior vice president of morning programming Gavin Hadden said.
Attending the announcement were Doocy, Earhardt, and Kilmeade, along with co-hosts of “FOX & Friends Weekend,” Will Cain, Rachel Campos-Duffy, and Pete Hegseth, senior meteorologist Janice Dean, and co-hosts of “FOX & Friends First,” Todd Piro and Carley Shimkus.
“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,” Jones said in a statement.
Jones has been with the FOX News Channel since 2018 and began working as an enterprise reporter for “FOX & Friends” in 2021.
Nielsen Media Research reports that “FOX & Friends” has been the highest-rated cable news morning program franchise for over two decades, with an average of 1.4 million viewers at the end of the most recent complete year.
“FOX & Friends” has dominated the viewership of CNN and MSNBC’s morning programs, and it is anticipated that it will continue to be the most viewed program in its time slot for the next 23 years.
Jones, 30, made history as the youngest Black anchor of a cable news program when “Lawrence Jones Cross Country” premiered a year ago.
In his capacity as host of “Lawrence Jones Cross Country,” which broadcast from January 2022 until last week, Jones traveled across the United States to provide viewers with the most up-to-date information on significant topics. “One Nation with Brian Kilmeade” will now broadcast on Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET in its place.
Jones has recalled important guidance from Sean Hannity throughout his career.
“When I first started in this industry, Hannity advised me to just be L.J.,” he said to Fox News Digital in the previous year.