Trump Goes on an Epic Rant Accusing Fox News of Cutting Him Off on Live TV, “I’m the Ratings Machine”

Former president Donald Trump called Fox News last Thursday— right after Vice President Kamala Harris finished her acceptance speech for the nomination at the Democratic National Convention— and chatted with hosts Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier. MacCallum and Baier repeatedly attempted to cut Trump off during the call-in to ask a question, but the Republican leader went on an epic rant about Harris.

According to The Hill, after ten minutes, the anchors informed Trump that the network had run out of time, and the call came to an end. Subsequently, the GOP nominee accused the network of shutting him out. "Bret Baier of FoxNews called me, I didn’t call him, just before the Kamala Convention speech, and asked me if I would like to critique her after she is finished. I agreed to do so!" he wrote on Truth Social. 

He continued, "I thought it was nonspecific and weak, with no fracking, crime, inflation, or anything else of interest even mentioned. Delivery was a C+, with far too many and speedy 'thank you’s' at the beginning. It was 'weird!'...I didn’t call other media outlets that asked me to go on, they called me. The Fake News, like often 'gilted' Maureen Dowd of the failing New York Times, wrote incorrectly that I was making the calls. Wrong!!! I don’t have to make calls to go on TV, or anything else— They call me! It’s called ratings. I guess...I’m the Ratings Machine!”

Trump's response was triggered by the fact that the New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, wrote a scathing opinion piece that stated, “He followed up the posts with a scream-of-consciousness call to Fox News, filibustering Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum for 10 minutes until Baier abruptly cut him off to throw to the Greg Gutfeld comedy show.”

Long-time critic Maggie Haberman while appearing on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, also stated that Trump is not “in command” of himself as he is 'jarred' by the rise of his Democratic presidential opponent. As reported by Mediaite, she shared the clip of the Republican leader contacting Fox News.

In the video, Trump seemed to be accidentally tapping buttons on his phone while criticizing Harris. “By the way, the beeping you heard appears to be Trump inadvertently hitting buttons on his phone,” noted Blitzer, who claimed that Trump had called Newsmax as well. “So what do these interviews, Maggie, say about his mindset right now?” 

“He’s very reactive when he is not in command,” the journalist opined. “And we have seen this over the last nine years that he’s been in politics or in the political arena. He is clearly jarred by her. He has been trying to get back into the national conversation for several weeks now ever since President Biden announced he wasn’t running for re-election.”