An unnamed editor at the magazine told the Daily Mail they "will walk out the motherfking door" if the first lady is featured.
The co-hosts of "Fox & Friends" swooned on Tuesday over the possibility of Melania Trump being on the cover of Vanity Fair, and one called for the firing of staffers who will reportedly protest if the magazine features the first lady.
"I would buy the magazine. I'd buy several of them if they would do this, just to prove a point that I want your stock to go up, because I'm in support of this, I think you need to tell both sides," co-host Ainsley Earhardt said.
She added that Democratic figures like former first lady Michelle Obama have been on the cover of Vogue, whose parent company Condé Nast also owns Vanity Fair, "several times."
"I can tell you that was a leaked story from Vanity Fair because they are trying to soften up the opposition they are going to face when this happens," co-host Charlie Hurt speculated.
Mark Guiducci, Vanity Fair's new global editorial director, took over in June following the departure of President Donald Trump critic Radhika Jones.
Earlier this week, Semafor reported that Guiducci is rolling out changes to the publication and is potentially interested in putting the first lady on the cover.
One mid-level Vanity Fair editor, who was not identified by name, told the Daily Mail on Monday they "will walk out the motherfking door, and half my staff will follow me" if that happens.
"We are not going to normalize this despot and his wife; we're just not going to do it. We're going to stand for what's right," the editor said.
"If I have to work bagging groceries at Trader Joe's, I'll do it. If [Guiducci] puts Melania on the cover, half of the editorial staff will walk out, I guarantee it," the editor continued.
On "Fox & Friends," co-host Brian Kilmeade said the anonymous editor "should be fired."
"So if you're at Vanity Fair right now, walk around, look for a mid-level editor that sounds angry, and toss them out and tell them to write to Trader Joe's, who might not want to hire you, by the way. They have standards," Kilmeade fumed.
The first lady, a former model, has been absent from any U.S. editions of Condé Nast magazines since her husband took office, an apparent sore subject. However, "Fox & Friends" went on to show a clip from a few months ago when the hosts asked her about being on magazine covers.
"I've been there ... on the cover of Vogue, on the covers of many magazines before," she responded. She added: "For me, we have so many other important things to do than to be on the cover of any magazine."