Trump again lashes out at Fox News: ‘Not what it used to be’
President Trump on Sunday renewed his attacks against Fox News over its recent polls, saying that the network favored by conservatives is “only getting worse.”
Trump made the attack while contrasting surveys from Fox News and Rasmussen Reports on his approval rating. Rasmussen’s daily tracking poll on Friday showed the president with a 50 percent approval rating among likely U.S. voters. Just 43 percent of voters said they approved of Trump’s job performance in a Fox survey released earlier this month.
“Rasmussen at 50%,” Trump said on Twitter, before arguing that Fox News and its Sunday show “Media Buzz” were “only getting worse!”
He then cited the network’s decision to hire former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile as a contributor as an example of it not being what it “used to be.”
“So @donnabrazile gives Crooked Hillary the Questions, and now she’s on @FoxNews,” he added in a separate tweet, referring to a controversy involving debate questions she sent Hillary Clinton during the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.
{mosads}Brazile in response told Trump to focus on his job.
“Try to bring out the best in others and repent when you make mistakes. Seek forgiveness & strive for excellence,” she added.
Trump has frequently railed against the media during his two-plus years in the White House, often referring to members of the press as “enemies of the people” and fake news. But until recently he’s mainly reserved praise for Fox News and its hosts.
He’s repeatedly lashed out at the network over its polling over the past two months. He knocked the network last week after a survey showed him losing to former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in hypothetical 2020 match-ups.
“I don’t know what’s happening with Fox,” he told reporters, adding that he doesn’t “believe” the polls.
“Fox is different. There’s no question about it,” he continued.
The remarks prompted a rebuke from Fox News anchor Bret Baier, who said that the network had not “changed.”
Howard Kurtz, the host of “Media Buzz,” backed up Baier’s assessment on Sunday, saying that the survey about 2020 match-ups was “very much in line” with other recent polls.
He later defended the fairness of the network and his Sunday show in a tweet.
“Trump just tweeted that @MediaBuzzFNC is getting worse, apparently because I defended a Fox 2020 poll,” he said. “I happen to think we make every effort to be fair to a POTUS much maligned by the media.”
The survey comparing 2020 Democrats to Trump was released the same week that his disapproval rating surged to a near record in a poll conducted by Fox, with 56 percent of respondents saying they disapproved of Trump’s job performance.
The survey found a 5 percentage point increase in Trump’s disapproval from last month.
The Hill has requested comment from Fox News on Trump’s latest comments.
This report was updated at 1:34 p.m.