On Sunday evening, President Trump tweeted an angry screed about unofficial White House PR firm Fox News. According to White House aides speaking to Associated Press, the president’s anger at Fox News was, in part, fueled by his annoyance at the viral “Fuck Trump” chant that broke out in a bar in France while Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot was reporting on the World Cup Championship.
Let’s take a moment and relive that perfect moment of live television:
Fox News did a live shot from a sports bar in Frace where the US fans started chanting “Fuck Trump” pic.twitter.com/ZTHyFBOYR5
— jordan (@JordanUhl) July 7, 2019
Although it’s clearly not Palkot’s fault that a group of drunk sports fans took advantage of a golden opportunity and told the aspiring authoritarian to fuck off on his own propaganda outlet, two advisers confirmed that the president was “particularly annoyed” at what he likely perceived as a show of disloyalty on the part of Fox News.
While the chant reportedly put Trump in a bad mood, Matthew Gertz of watchdog group Media Matters posited that two Fox News segments on Trump’s migrant detention centers which cited the New York Times‘ reporting on their inhumane conditions likely put him over the edge.
…..Comcast (NBC/MSNBC) Trump haters, who do whatever Brian & Steve tell them to do. Like CNN, NBC is also way down in the ratings. But @FoxNews, who failed in getting the very BORING Dem debates, is now loading up with Democrats & even using Fake unsourced @nytimes as….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2019
…a “source” of information (ask the Times what they paid for the Boston Globe, & what they sold it for (lost 1.5 Billion Dollars), or their old headquarters building disaster, or their unfunded liability? @FoxNews is changing fast, but they forgot the people who got them there!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 7, 2019
….their lowest rated show. Watch the @FoxNews weekend daytime anchors, who are terrible, go after her big time. That’s what they want – but it sure is not what the audience wants!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2019
Two days later, Trump seems to have made nice with the network he essentially controls tweeting praise for Fox & Friends.
“I agree with the President, the Supreme Court got it wrong. There should be a question about Citizenship on the Census. A.G. Barr sees a pathway to add the Citizenship Question.” Steve Doocy @foxandfriends Working hard on something that should be so easy. People are fed up!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2019