President Donald Trump lashed out at Fox News over the weekend, declaring his Twitter followers would be better off tuning into one of the conservative-leaning network’s competitors.
“@FoxNews weekend afternoons is the worst! Getting into @CNN and MSDNC territory. Watch @OANN & @newsmax instead. Much better!” the president wrote Sunday afternoon, not missing the opportunity to insult CNN or MSNBC while heralding One America News and Newsmax.
The source of his ire was the network’s polling, which has been showing him losing November’s presidential election to former vice president Joe Biden in recent weeks: “@FoxNews gladly puts up the phony suppression polls as soon as they come out. We are leading in the REAL polls because people are sick & tired of watching the Democrat run cities, in all cases, falling apart. Also, now 96% Approval Rating in the Republican Party. Another 2016!” he wrote.
Fox News historically has not commented on Trump’s attacks, which are interspersed with the president’s own appearances on the network, but has stood behind its polling unit. His town halls and interviews on Fox News regularly draw huge ratings. For instance, Sean Hannity’s town hall with Trump was the most-watched show on television when it aired June 25, beating all cable and broadcast competitors with 5.1 million viewers.
Fox News booking producer Rachel Dzanashvili did share a screenshot of the president’s tweet insulting weekend programming on her Instagram story Sunday night, writing, “Special thanks to POTUS for mentioning the program where I’m responsible for booking. My job here is done.”
See Trump’s tweet below:
.@FoxNews weekend afternoons is the worst! Getting into @CNN and MSDNC territory. Watch @OANN & @newsmax instead. Much better!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 5, 2020