In a Twitter message published on Sunday, President Donald Trump ripped into Fox News , taking direct aim at veteran anchor Chris Wallace .
Per The Hill , Trump mockingly compared Wallace to the anchor’s late father, Mike, concluding that it is a “whole new ballgame” at the conservative network. The president also took a shot at Meet the Press anchor Chuck Todd, and CBS News’ Face the Nation .
“Just watched Mike Wallace wannabe, Chris Wallace, on @FoxNews. I am now convinced that he is even worse than Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd of Meet the Press(please!), or the people over at Deface the Nation. What the hell is happening to @FoxNews. It’s a whole new ballgame over there!”
As the publication notes, it is unclear what triggered Trump’s attack on Wallace and Fox News, but the president has previously attacked the anchor in a similar manner. On a number of occasions, Trump has compared Wallace to his father, Mike, who was one of the original correspondents for CBS’s 60 Minutes .
“One of us has a daddy problem, and it’s not me,” Wallace responded to one of the president’s attacks last year. In recent months, Trump has been uncharacteristically aggressive toward Fox News, arguing that the network has changed since he became president.
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In a follow-up Twitter post, Trump attacked the “Lamestream Media” as a whole, claiming that liberal-leaning networks are trying to influence the 2020 presidential election by attacking him and protecting former Vice President Joe Biden, who is the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee.
According to Trump, Democrats and the media “have put their political game plan in full swing. ‘Whether he is right or wrong, it doesn’t matter. Criticize ‘Trump’ for everything, and don’t let the public see Biden. Hide him.’”
In a third tweet, Trump blasted the media for suggesting he ignored early warnings about the coronavirus pandemic. According to the president, he reacted quickly and on time, banning travel from China, which led to criticism from some of the media.
If the Fake News Opposition Party is pushing, with all their might, the fact that President Trump “ignored early warnings about the threat,” then why did Media & Dems viciously criticize me when I instituted a Travel Ban on China? They said “early & not necessary.” Corrupt Media!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2020
Tensions between Trump and Fox News have been brewing for quite some time. Over the past months, the president has gotten more critical of his onetime favorite cable news channel, often using Twitter to criticize its coverage of his administration. Earlier this summer, the commander-in-chief reportedly demanded a one-on-one meeting with Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott.
In the aftermath of the meeting, in an apparent attempt to appease the president, Scott arranged an interview with anchor Bret Baier, but Trump’s attacks on the conservative network have not stopped. During a recent press briefing, for instance, he lashed out at a Fox News reporter who asked a question about the federal government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.