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Friday, November 13, 2020
Trump and Fox News have been a perfect relationship for a long time: The US president and the conservative television station give each other meaning, praise and stick together, until Fox News acknowledges Biden’s election victory. Trump is outraged, but he may already be planning a counterattack.
It was not the first time that Donald Trump criticized his favorite channel, Fox News. But on Thursday he struck a blow against the conservative Twitter channel, heralding the end of possibly the most powerful alliance between the White House and a media outlet in recent US history. “The ratings have completely crashed. Worse still on the weekend day. It’s so sad to see this, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot about the goose that lays the golden eggs. 2016 and 2020 were Fox News, “Trump wrote on Twitter. By the golden goose he obviously meant himself, as an audience magnet for media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s conservative broadcaster.
Trump is angry at Fox News, the station that has been loyal to him for the past few years. Because the channel recognizes Joe Biden’s election victory and critically treats Trump’s unfounded allegations of voter fraud, at least on daytime shows. Trump’s Revenge: On Thursday he posted on Twitter a series of messages from unknown users who were disappointed. One of them was “Fox News is dead.”
Donald Trump and Fox News: This is an alliance that began years before the real estate mogul’s sensational move to the White House. Back in 2011, it was a regular part of the morning show “Fox and Friends” every Monday. As a candidate for the White House, he received not only benevolent reports, but also many unfiltered interviews. Murdoch, who also owns several other Fox stations, as well as the “Wall Street Journal” and “New York Post” newspapers, is said to have not particularly liked him personally, as described by many observers of the scene. But he saw in Trump a historic opportunity to expand his power to the core of the White House.
TV presenter as one of the most important advisers
The plan worked and Fox News became more than just a news channel. It gave Trump’s lies more space than other major channels. The evening’s opinion broadcasts were packed with Trump-friendly moderators. Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham refer to Trump as their “friends” – every day they offer a tribute program reminiscent of government propaganda. In his book “Hoax,” Brian Stelter, a CNN media journalist who reports extremely critical of the president, describes the multiple ties between the Trump administration and Fox News. The channel is a “propaganda machine the likes of which the United States has never seen before,” Stelter said.
And an echo chamber: Trump drew ideas for his policy from the shows, which then reported on his policy with praise. According to a May 2019 poll, Trump enjoyed a significantly higher level of approval for his work among Fox News consumers than among viewers at other stations. Stelter portrays Sean Hannity as one of Trump’s most important advisers during his presidency. It is said to have influenced personnel and management decisions. Hannity isn’t the only one in the president’s ear: Trump is reportedly said to have called off a planned attack on Iran that could have led to war, also by Tucker Carlson. This had previously announced moderation in its broadcast.
Behind the scenes of Fox News, two camps are clashing: opinion show employees and news reporters like Chris Wallace, who also hosted the first television duel between Trump and Biden. According to Stelter, the latter were increasingly frustrated during the presidency by the list the station had received from commentators. The US elections were the time for independent news reporters and data analysts for the channel. Early on election night, the broadcaster proclaimed the “Swing State” of Arizona for Biden. According to the “New York Times” a shock to the Trump team. The president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, called Murdoch and tried to persuade the station to pull out, to no avail. When Biden gathered the necessary 270 votes from the electoral college, the broadcaster named Biden “president-elect.”
“Trump is like Fox’s Frankenstein”
Fox News reporter Eric Shawn drew attention when he said of an accusation by Trump’s team of alleged electoral irregularities: “That is not true. That is not true. It is just not true.” And moderator Neil Cavuto switched from a press conference with a Trump spokeswoman on the same topic after a few moments. His reasoning: “If she doesn’t have more details to prove it, I can’t show her with a clear conscience.”
This upset not only Trump, but also some of his supporters, who now accuse Fox of treason against the president and want to switch to smaller television channels like OANN (One America News Network) or Newsmax. These regularly distort the truth beyond recognition. Newsmax’s ratings have multiplied by several in recent days. Trump said he personally congratulated Newsmax boss Christopher Ruddy in a call from the Oval Office.
Trump had repeatedly threatened that the mainstream media reporting negatively on him would suffer bitterly after his departure; in fact, American media like Fox News or the “New York Times” have gained subscribers and viewers thanks to Trump. However, according to The Guardian, there is no evidence that their quotas are now falling as Trump claims.
In the political fight for survival, the outgoing president could now walk away from his favorite season. But what happens after that? “Trump wants control,” journalist Stelter quotes an insider in his book, which was published shortly before the election. “He wants Trump TV.” His own media empire. Thus, Trump could soon be competing for the favor of the audience as Murdoch’s opponent, with many hours of broadcasting just for his worldview, straight from his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, possibly with shows for his sons Ivanka. , Eric and Don Junior. “Trump is like Fox’s Frankenstein,” Stelter quotes another source. “You helped create it and it’s out of control.”
