The love affair between Fox News and Donald Trump may be coming to an end.
The president has been increasingly lashing out at the conservative network that gives him near-universally good coverage, taking aim at the few times that Fox News looks critically at his presidency. One of those times just happened on Sunday, with Trump slamming the network after a new poll from Rasmussen showed his approval rating at 50 percent — a full seven points higher than the last poll from Fox News.
Trump appeared to take the opportunity to remind Fox News that they are not the most praiseworthy organization.
“Rasmussen at 50%,” Trump boasted in his tweet , adding that Fox News is “only getting worse!”
While Donald Trump frequently attacks media outlets that report critically about his presidency, he has only rarely taken aim at Fox News. The conservative cable news network appears to be the president’s favorite, with Trump frequently promoting its shows, giving exclusive interviews to Fox News personalities, and even parroting segments he has just watched. That was the case two weeks ago when Trump apparently watched a segment slamming Congressman Elijah Cummings after the Democrat was critical of Donald Trump’s border policies. The segment mocked Cummings’ Maryland district, which Trump copied nearly verbatim in a tweet minutes later in which he called it a “rat and rodent infested mess.”
But things do not seem so cozy between Donald Trump and Fox News since the network’s polling arm has shown Trump with sinking approval ratings and rising disapproval. As the Independent noted, Trump also took aim on Sunday at some of the network’s hiring decisions, namely the former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile. Trump made reference to an admission from Brazile that she shared debate questions with Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic primary.
“So [Brazile] gives Crooked Hillary the questions, and now she’s on [Fox News],” Trump said.
JUST IN: Trump again lashes out at Fox News: “Not what it used to be” https://t.co/uhaObImFIM pic.twitter.com/XZzS012UTG
— The Hill (@thehill) August 25, 2019
Donald Trump’s deteriorating relationship with Fox News seemed to delight many of his critics, who took to Twitter to revel in the messy breakup. Those mocking Trump included Joe Walsh, the former Tea Party congressman who will be challenging Trump for the Republican Party nomination in 2020.
This is going to be a really ugly breakup. @realDonaldTrump will be left in the dust when @FoxNews determines he’s a loser. They’ll forget he ever existed. just like they did with George W. Bush. https://t.co/Zf1hp9N00x
— Crooks and Liars (@crooksandliars) August 3, 2019
Has there ever been a President who whined about polls as much as Donald Trump does? https://t.co/bjIEBehHlV
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) August 24, 2019
But there will likely be another chance for Fox News. In the other instances when Donald Trump has lashed out at the network, he has always gone back to promoting the network’s shows and repeating pro-Trump segments he has just watched.