In what might be the biggest break up since Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Donald Trump seems to have called it quits with his longtime partner Fox News, following the network’s decision to host an interview with Kamala Harris.
Taking to Truth Social to slam the network that has long favored (and even adored) him, Trump said Fox News has “totally lost its way” and that it is “not worthwhile” for him to do interviews with them anymore. Trump’s takedown of Fox News comes just ahead of Harris’ interview on the network, where she will sit down with chief political anchor, Bret Baier.
In Trump’s view, Harris’ appearance on Fox News must feel like he is being cheated on, since the network is filled with anchors and loyalists who have long defended his oft-bizarre antics. Go channel-surfing long enough on Fox and you’ll find legions of Sean Hannity and Tucker Culson proteges, so Fox’s decision to host an interview with Harris is a mere drop in the ocean of the network’s otherwise pro-Trump programming.
Heck, Fox News was even forced to pay some $780 million in 2023 after spreading election lies that favored the former president. Still, that just won’t do for Trump. In what reads like a breakup letter, the former president wrote that Baier is “often very soft on” during interviews with those from the political left, adding that he “would have preferred seeing a more hard-hitting journalist” interview Harris.
He went on to say that, more broadly, Fox has “gone soft on the Democrats” and has been “constantly polluting the airwaves with unopposed Kamala Representatives.” He went on to cite multiple people from the Harris camp who have appeared on Fox in recent weeks — like Ian Sams, Richard Fowler and Patrick Murphy — as evidence that the network is becoming “one-sided.”
In anyone else’s mind, this is just Fox attempting fair and balanced coverage, but to Trump it’s the ultimate betrayal. Concluding the message with a whiff of “it’s not me, it’s you” energy, Trump again distanced himself from the network that he’s long had a love affair with, saying he may not appear on Fox for future interviews because “it all just averages out into NOTHING.”
Some have taken Harris’ decision to even appear on Trump’s most beloved network as a deliberate attempt to bait and anger him, but the tensions between Fox and Trump might have been brewing for some time. Fox’s hosting of Harris adds to what feels like the network’s increasing intolerance of his ramblings in recent weeks. In early-October, one Fox News anchor even fact-checked a Trump campaign spokesperson after spewing more lies about the federal government’s response to Hurricane Helene and Milton.
Before that, the network cut off Trump midway through his call-in to discuss Harris’ speech at the Democratic National Convention. To go for so long with a major news network firmly on your side, only for them to host an interview with your nemesis, must feel like a betrayal in Trump’s eyes. But as the dust settles on a love affair that at one point seemed unbreakable, maybe there will be a silver lining if Trump has a rebound relationship with CNN. But hell will probably freeze over first.
Published: Oct 16, 2024 03:35 am