Donald Trump Says Fox News Is ‘A Big Obstacle’ To His Re-Election Campaign
In between his Thursday appearances on Fox News and Fox Business, Donald Trump called in to Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and called the network “a big obstacle,” Mediaite reported.
“Fox is a whole different ballgame,” the head of state said. “Fox is a much different thing than it was four years ago.”
The president praised hosts like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham but pointed to former House Speaker Paul Ryan’s presence on the company’s board as the culprit for the network’s purported shift.
“When Roger Ailes ran Fox, I mean, Roger had a strong point of view that’s totally gone. And I think it’s influenced by Paul Ryan. He’s on the board, I can’t believe it.”
Limbaugh appeared to agree with the U.S. leader’s analysis.
“The obstacles that keep being placed in front of you are no doubt there,” the radio host said. “I’ve never seen anything like this become, the things you have to overcome.”
“Fox is a problem,” Trump responded.
According to Trump, the channel has taken a turn toward the same fate as broadcasters like MSNBC and CNN, which he frequently attacks as “fake news.”
As reported by Breitbart, Trump made similar comments during a discussion with talk radio host Mark Levin on Friday. Notably, Levin has a weekend program on Fox News and told the president he would likely receive flak from executives for the criticism.
“Fox was great,” Trump said. “Fox is no longer great.”
Despite his attacks on the broadcaster, Trump made a Friday appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show for a medical exam following his COVID-19 diagnosis and subsequent treatment, per Vanity Fair. The appearance involved a conversation with Dr. Marc Siegel, who previously interviewed Trump when he boasted about the cognitive test he took and passed.
TRUMP: I asked the doctor, I said, 'is there some kind of cognitive test that I could take?' … the last questions are much more difficult. Like a memory question. You'll go 'person, woman, man, camera, TV.' So they say — 'can you repeat that?' … for me it was easy." ? pic.twitter.com/pCKYoNy3BH
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 23, 2020
When pressed by Hannity on Thursday, Trump did not say whether he had tested negative for coronavirus or been tested since his hospitalization at Walter Reed Medical Center.
The president’s displeasure with the network has apparently been brewing for months. According to The Inquisitr, reporting from May suggested that the head of state is aiming to take down the channel for what he perceives as disloyalty.
Notably, an investor group linked to Donald Trump Jr. and Tommy Hicks’ Dallas-based family reportedly bought a stake in One America News Network (OANN) — a cable channel that has been increasingly gaining the U.S. leader’s attention. According to a person familiar with the deal, Trump is looking to build-up OANN as a Fox News competitor.
