Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) suggested certain political pundits on the right and conservative media more generally are shying away from criticizing former President Trump for fear of angering their audiences.
“We got to hold him accountable. … This idea that like all these conservative radio guys and Fox News people like, you know, they will like never criticize because they’re so concerned that someone may yell at them,” DeSantis said during a campaign event in Iowa this week.
“Look, anyone running for office answers to you, you have every right to hold these people accountable and you should hold him accountable when he’s taking those positions that are not consistent with the values here in northwest Iowa,” he added.
DeSantis’s comments were first highlighted by Mediate.
Since Trump left office, hosts on Fox have suggested he has become less influential in the GOP or defended the network’s coverage of him.
More recently, some of Fox’s leading pundits and others across conservative media have voiced support for Trump ahead of a potential rematch with President Biden despite his repeated attacks on the network and some of its segments focusing on him.
Trump has for months accused media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s various media properties of trying to boost DeSantis, who is trailing Trump in the GOP presidential race by double digits.
The former president has nonetheless participated in several sit-down interviews with Fox’s leading anchors and personalities, and next week, he will join a town hall event airing on the network at the same time as the fifth GOP primary debate between DeSantis and fellow GOP hopeful Nikki Haley.