In light of the revolving door between the White House and Fox News, one might assume that Donald Trump has nothing but great things to say about the network. That assumption would be wrong.

On Sunday morning, the president published a lengthy tirade to his social media platform, whining that Fox hadn’t offered sufficient coverage of his recent campaign rallies. From said tirade:

Our people want to see our Rallies, and reports on our Rallies, on FoxNews, or they will very quickly stop watching (like I am doing right now!). Fix spends more time talking to Communists, Socialists, and Dumocrats, often without rebuttal, and MAGA is not, to put it mildly, happy.

We don’t like stupid Jessica Tarlov, and all of the others, that are forced down MAGA’S throats. … Who makes these decisions at FoxNews? Probably the same loser that fired the great Maria Bartiromo because she complained about not being allowed to cover “TRUMP.”

(I’ll never understand why refers to himself in the third person while putting quotation marks around his name.)

A few days earlier, Trump issued a related complaint that read in part, “Why does FoxNews always put Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Jessica Tarlov, and every Democrat on, saying bad things about the Republican Party and, of course, me? I actually think they get more airtime than Pro Republicans. This is why MAGA, and REAL Patriots, will never like Fox! They repeat a completely negative narrative, on and on it goes, and then we get a quick retort.”

A month earlier, Trump similarly whined online that Shannon Bream’s Fox show “is so biased against MAGA, ‘TRUMP,’ and Republicans, that it is ridiculous!” That came on the heels of a missive that seemed to have been posted after the president saw a Democrat on Fox News, at which point he wrote, “MAGA Republicans, who are actually close to 100% of the Party, hate Fox, despite the wonderful contributions made by so many of their great anchors and commentators. Hard to win Elections like this!”

There were plenty of similar complaints last year, including one in which the president demanded that Fox News fire its pollster for releasing results he didn’t like.

This entire offensive is obviously misguided, but more importantly, it’s rooted in an unspoken insult.

Around this time two years ago, for example, Trump argued that Fox News “shouldn’t be allowed” to show remarks from his Democratic rival. The Republican also argued that Fox News “shouldn’t allow” Democratic attack ads.

Trump added shortly after that Fox News should stop “constantly putting on Liberal Democrats” who end up “nullifying” Republican guests.

In the 2020 presidential election, he also whined online that Fox News was going too far “in covering” Democratic candidates. Trump added that Fox News executives should instead prioritize “the people who got them there.”

A Washington Post analysis noted that it was a remarkable sentiment because it was “an explicit expression of his expectation that Fox News will at least play down coverage of Democratic issues and candidates, if not shut them out entirely.”

Trump has long made it clear that he sees Fox News as a Republican entity that exists to advance a partisan cause. It’s precisely why he seems so outraged when the network features a host or guest who fails to toe the party line. The president apparently can’t understand why an extension of the GOP would take steps that might detract from Republican objectives.

In other words, the more the White House targets Fox News, the more we’re reminded that Team Trump sees the network as a political instrument instead of an independent news organization.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

The post Trump’s latest offensive against Fox News said more than he probably intended appeared first on MS NOW.

Author: Source Author

From MS Now.