Trump Trend? President Says That Cable News Programs That Are 'Fair' to Him Get the Most Viewers
President Donald Trump may not be profoundly happy with Fox News lately, but he still has a soft spot for some of its hosts — at least those he says treat him well.
In a tweet Saturday, the president wrote that programs that were “Fair (or great)” to him were doing well in the ratings — a clear shot at Fox hosts he’s been feuding with publicly.
“Has anyone noticed that the top shows on @foxnews and cable ratings are those that are Fair (or great) to your favorite President, me!” Trump tweeted, according to The Hill.
“Congratulations to @seanhannity for being the number one shoe [sic] on Cable Television!”
The tweet has since been deleted (possibly because of the “shoe” typo).
While Fox is still more favorable to Trump than most mainstream media, Trump has recently been critical of the network, particularly after a poll that showed him trailing most of the 2020 Democrat hopefuls.
After that poll was released, Trump went after Fox, noting that the generally conservative-leaning Fox News had brought on a number of liberal figures of late.
“Just watched @FoxNews heavily promoting the Democrats through their DNC Communications Director, spewing out whatever she wanted with zero pushback by anchor, @SandraSmithFox,” Trump wrote in tweets last week.
“Terrible considering that Fox couldn’t even land a debate, the Dems give them NOTHING! @CNN & @MSNBC are all in for the Open Border Socialists (or beyond). Fox hires ‘give Hillary the questions’ @donnabrazile, Juan Williams and low ratings Shep Smith. 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”
Just watched @FoxNews heavily promoting the Democrats through their DNC Communications Director, spewing out whatever she wanted with zero pushback by anchor, @SandraSmithFox. Terrible considering that Fox couldn’t even land a debate, the Dems give them NOTHING! @CNN & @MSNBC….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2019
….are all in for the Open Border Socialists (or beyond). Fox hires “give Hillary the questions” @donnabrazile, Juan Williams and low ratings Shep Smith. 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!….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2019
The president was referring to the fact that the DNC chose to not give Fox News a debate as well as the fact that Brazile was hired by Fox after being let go from CNN for sharing debate questions with Hillary Clinton’s team during the 2016 election cycle.
Williams is best known for his work with NPR and Shepard Smith, who has been with the network since time immemorial, is a liberal voice.
Trump’s tweets have gotten the attention of some Fox figures — including Neil Cavuto, who was critical of the president.
“I think the president watches Fox. I also think he’s getting sick of Fox, which is weird because I think he gets pretty fair coverage on Fox,” Cavuto said Thursday.
“First of all, Mr. President, we don’t work for you. I don’t work for you. My job is to cover you, not fawn over you or rip you, just cover you — call balls and strikes,” he continued.
“Our job is to keep score, not settle scores. In my case, to report the economic numbers when they’re good and when they’re bad, both when the markets are soaring and when they’re tumbling, when trade talks are looking like they’re coming together and when they are looking like falling apart. It’s called being fair and balanced, Mr. President.”
However, it’s worth pointing out that “Hannity” is the top-rated show on cable and Sean has been more than friendly toward the president.
On Thursday, for instance, “Hannity” drew 2.885 million viewers compared to Cavuto’s 1.399 million, according to Adweek. (Registration required.)
Is that because the rest of Fox News has gone more liberal? Perhaps, although the fact that Cavuto is on in the middle of the afternoon and Hannity is on at 9 p.m. might have something to do with it.
Is it because the coverage is more “Fair (or great)?”
There’s a joke in here about “if the shoe fits,” but I’m not going to go that low.
In the end, most viewers are intelligent enough to filter bias and formulate their own opinions without television personalities serving as intermediaries.
Whether or not this means there’s a trend toward fairer (or “fairer,” depending on your point of view) coverage of the president getting better ratings is anyone’s guess, but it certainly doesn’t seem to have hurt Sean Hannity.
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