The indictment of Donald Trump has reignited, for the for being, a long-distance romance that had become sour: the one the former president previously had with Fox News.
On Thursday, conservative cable news network pundits and opinion hosts rushed to Trump’s defence when news broke that a Manhattan grand jury had brought charges connected to the former president’s alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. During the evening, Trump’s indictment was labelled as politically motivated, flawed on its own merits, and a “rubicon moment” for our nation’s politics – echoes of Trump’s own rhetoric.
It was a sort of truce for some on Fox News, who had expressed a desire to move on from Trump since his administration ended. While it depicted the seeming circling of the waggons in the aftermath of the grand jury’s ruling, it also highlighted another aspect of the early 2024 race: Trump’s re-engagement with and acceptability among the political press.
After being away from Fox News for several months, Trump returned for an interview with anchor Sean Hannity just days before the indictment. Before, his campaign had invited on board his jet some major media sites that Trump constantly denounced as “enemy of the people.”
All three major networks, plus CNN, have accompanied Trump on campaign trips, as have Bloomberg, AWN, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Axios. Trump’s trips have been documented by photojournalists from the New York Times and the Associated Press. The former president frequently contacts local radio stations in early voting and Super Tuesday states. Interviews with major television networks have been discussed. His staff has also arranged for off-the-record dinners with the owners and editors of some mainstream media outlets. On at least one swing, he chatted with the assembled media twice off the record.
“I think President Trump has completely changed the presidency and even running for president,” said Jason Miller, a Trump adviser. “Americans and the media are accustomed to having elected officials and political leaders who are accessible and transparent and willing to tell the voters what they’re thinking in real time.” “You can’t simply walk out to a platform, make your words, and then walk back into the next room.” That is not how the presidency functions.”
Trump has long been preoccupied with media coverage, and he has been known to call reporters to break news about future events. He has a love-hate relationship with some journalists, calling them “fake news” from the platform and then making nice on his jet, at Mar-a-lago, or in interviews.
His current blitz, on the other hand, is a calculated bet that a press corps that has promised to apply a more rigorous editorial lens to him will give him coverage akin to traditional horse race coverage. It’s also a wager that the strategy he utilised in 2016 will work again.
Trump regarded media ubiquity as a strategy to obtain his party’s candidature at the time. Again, his campaign sees an advantage in allowing a diverse range of outlets to ask questions and cover events. Trump receives nonstop coverage, which his advisers believe is more fair than some of the bad stories he has received over the years.
Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox News and Fox Corporation, had made this bet fairly tricky. The high-profile opinion voices at his media firms were critical of Trump in the days leading up to his campaign announcement, and they appeared to be siding with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis throughout the GOP primary. The Wall Street Journal and New York Post’s conservative editorial boards had turned against Trump, and Trump himself had complained that he did not appear to be receiving the same level of attention on television as his potential opponent, DeSantis.
Trump’s team had also taken note of DeSantis’s habit of avoiding mainstream media sources and being highly careful with interviews. They also stated that they were aware of some of the behind-the-scenes grumblings from the journalists covering DeSantis about the lack of access.
Nonetheless, Trump supporters were happy with the outpouring of support and scepticism for the indictment from outlets like as Fox News and even several CNN commentators on Thursday evening.
“There is a lot of sympathy for Trump right now in the GOP.” “Fox reflects the opinions of its viewers,” said a Republican operative working on Trump’s re-election campaign. “The WSJ education board and [Steve] Bannon agree — that’s the whole party there.”
There are certain drawbacks to opening all of Trump’s windows to the public. Trump is constantly posting on Truth Social, where he has threatened “death and destruction” if he is jailed and has spread unverified opposition research on DeSantis. Other aides claimed they breathed a sigh of relief when Trump lost access to social media because he couldn’t comment on everything that was going on and remind people why they were tired of his presidential demeanour. But, for Trump’s supporters, the excessive language is a desirable trait rather than a flaw.
“If he didn’t, he wouldn’t get enough attention, and people pay attention because of that — even people who don’t agree with what he’s saying,” said Louise Negry of Lometa, Texas, during Trump’s event in Waco. “They have to pay attention.”