After a summer spent lashing out at his once-favorite network, President Donald Trump hit Fox News again Wednesday morning for what he called “terrible” coverage of Democrats, prompting response from at least one of the channel’s high-ranking anchors.
“The New FoxNews is letting millions of GREAT people down!” he wrote in a series of tweets that chastised the network’s on-air coverage of Democrats. “We have to start looking for a new News Outlet. Fox isn’t working for us anymore!”
Fox News has not issued a comment but senior political analyst Brit Hume wrote back, “Fox News isn’t supposed to work for you.”
Trump’s outburst seems to have been prompted by a Wednesday morning appearance by Democratic National Committee communications director Xochitl Hinojosa, interviewed by Sandra Smith.
“Just watched FoxNews heavily promoting the Democrats through their DNC Communications Director, spewing out whatever she wanted with zero pushback by anchor, SandraSmithFox,” the president wrote, then noted how “terrible” that was since the network failed to land a Democratic debate.
“The Dems give them NOTHING! CNN & MSNBC…. are all in for the Open Border Socialists (or beyond),” he continued, ripping both Fox News commentator Juan Williams and anchor Shepard Smith as well as the decision to hire former DNC chair and ex-CNN commentator Donna Brazile. “HOPELESS & CLUELESS! They should go all the way LEFT and I will still find a way to Win – That’s what I do, Win. Too Bad!….”
Hinojosa herself responded to Trump’s first tweet: “Thanks for watching. It’s pronounced So-Chi, you know, like the city in Russia.”
Other journalists echoed Hume’s concerns about the president’s multi-tweet tirade. CNN’s Chris Cillizza, for instance, highlighted, “The President of the United States castigates a TV network for having an official voice of one of the 2 major parties in this country on its air.”
Vox’s Aaron Rupar wrote, “Trump isn’t even trying to disguise the fact that he thinks Fox News should be Trump State TV and broadcast 24/7 MAGA propaganda” while the Washington Post’s Eugene Scott wondered, “what would happen to Trump’s support if Fox News, tired of these attacks, actually started covering the president’s administration more critically.”
Numerous others, like CBS News’ Kathryn Watson, focused one on particular quote: “Fox isn’t working for us anymore.”
Wednesday’s criticisms echo recent ones. In July, Trump said Fox isn’t made up of “proud warriors” anymore and said it “ain’t what it used to be.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.