During the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic's spread into the United States, Fox News was considerably more likely than other mainstream news outlets to promote misinformation about coronavirus.[244] The network promoted the narrative that the emergency response to the pandemic was politically motivated or otherwise unwarranted,[245] with Sean Hannity explicitly calling it a "hoax" (he later denied doing so) and other hosts downplaying it.[246] This coverage was consistent with the messaging of Trump at the time.[247] Only in mid March did the network change the tone of its coverage,[248] after President Trump declared a national emergency.[247]