Fiery Fox News personality Martha MacCallum has suffered quite a bit of tragedy in her life, and the hits just keep coming. “We lost our dear Dad, Douglas Clark MacCallum Jr, last week,” she announced in an Instagram post on April 3, 2025. “He was a wonderful father and a great friend.”

Martha eulogized her father in the post, pointing out that he “gave each of us his wisdom, charm and humor.” According to his obituary in Legacy, Douglas passed away at the age of 92 and left behind his three adult daughters and their families.

However, the stunning loss of her father did not keep Martha from tapping into her aggressive interview tactics shortly before her announcement on Instagram. The Fox News anchor, who hasn’t avoided making an on-air blunder, showed no signs of tenderness or remorse when pushing against Delaware Senator Chris Coons during an April 2 interview on “The Story With Martha MacCallum.” To be fair, we all grieve differently, and it could be that her antagonistic behavior was part and parcel of what her inner landscape is going through. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time Martha had made sparks fly while on her show.

Even though Martha MacCallum went toe to toe with Chris Coons just several days after the death of her father, she’s been known to aggressively hold her ground with guests on her show. There was the time in 2019 that she and U.S. Rep. Sean Maloney, a Democrat from New York, simmered over the Mueller Report, with her calling Maloney “very rude” multiple times (via Mediaite). This was followed by another spicy interview in 2021 with New York’s Black Lives Matter co-founder Hawk Newsome. According to the Daily Mail, Newsome was there to decry New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and his interview with MacCallum was historically heated.

While it is certainly a trend for Fox News anchors to push back against their more liberal leaning guests, MacCallum has a natural talent for provocation and interruption. It seems to be something that has served her career well, both in front of and away from the camera.

When pundit David Horsey wrote a shocking LA Times piece deconstructing the visual appearance of the women behind Fox News, MacCallum used her cunning wit to fire back in an article of her own. Writing for Time, MacCallum reminded everyone that just because Fox News hosts like Ainsley Earhardt show off their killer legs doesn’t mean they aren’t intelligent and qualified to hold their positions. It shows that her father most likely instilled in her a deep sense of self-worth, which seems to be paying off.