Trump says Fox has 'some real garbage' people, hits out at those who criticized him for taking hydroxy
President Donald Trump doesn’t have too many friends in mainstream media. Of the few he has, Fox News is one but of late, his relation with that news body is also not progressing to his liking. On Thursday, May 22, Trump in a combination of tweets slammed the channel once again saying it was not doing anything to help him and the Republicans win the November election to extend their stay in the White House for another four years. He said while Fox has some ‘great’ people, it also featured ‘some real garbage littered all over’. Among those Fox commentators that the president targeted was Neil Cavuto who recently warned against taking hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the drug that the former claimed he is taking regularly as a cure for Covid-19.
Trump came up with his attacking tweets while traveling to battleground Michigan where he visited a Ford plant in Ypsilanti making ventilators. Trump won Michigan in 2016 but has found himself facing the coronavirus challenge this time. The state has also seen an ugly tussle between him and its Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, over the response to the pandemic. Trump even threatened to block federal funds for the state as a protest against Michigan sending absentee ballot applications to its voters.
Fox made an in-depth coverage of anti-lockdown protests in Michigan after Trump gave a call to ‘liberate’ states last month. He has locked horns with a number of Democratic governors, including Whitmer, over the easing of lockdowns as a measure to prevent further spread of the pandemic. Fox has also been seen giving Trump considerable airtime in recent times, including a special interview at the Lincoln Memorial recently. But there are also commentators like Cavuto who have contradicted the president’s stand on HCQ. At least on two previous occasions in the recent past, Trump expressed his disappointment with Fox saying it was not working for him anymore. Cavuto had hit back at the president in August last year after he made his anti-Fox remarks, saying: “My job is to cover you, not to fawn over you or rip you, just report on you, to call balls and strikes on you.”
Trump's 'some great, some real garbage' attack
In his latest tirade against the channel, Trump said in two tweets combined: “Many will disagree, but @FoxNews is doing nothing to help Republicans, and me, get re-elected on November 3rd. Sure, there are some truly GREAT people on Fox, but you also have some real “garbage” littered all over the network, people like Dummy Juan Williams, Schumerite Chris Hahn, Richard Goodstein, Donna Brazile, Niel Cavuto, and many others. They repeat the worst of the Democrat speaking points, and lies. All of the good is totally nullified, and more. Net Result = BAD! CNN & MSDNC are all in for the Do Nothing Democrats! Fox WAS Great!”
What made Trump hit out at Fox again? His latest outburst came hours before Fox came up with a new national poll that showed figures that were unfavorable towards Trump on many counts. It came just days after Trump slammed Cavuto over his HCQ statement, in which he warned people that they would risk their lives by taking it. Among other people in Fox that Trump singled out under his ‘garbage’ list are Donna Brazile, a former Democratic National Committee chair; Juan Williams, a left voice; Chris Hahn, a former aide to Democrat Charles Schumer and Richard Goodstein, a former adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton.
It was just on Monday, May 18, that Trump tweeted saying Fox was no longer the same and that he missed Roger Ailes, former Fox News CEO, who stepped down in July 2016 following several sexual harassment allegations against him and died in May 2017. Last month, Trump said in a tweet that he wanted an ‘alternative’ to Fox.