Is Donald Trump shooting on Fox News?

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"Has @foxandfriends just been named the most influential issue of the news," he tweeted in December 2017. "You deserve it, three great people! The many Fake News Hate Shows should study your formula for success!"
In February 2018, he was back"Thanks to @foxandfriends for revealing the truth, maybe that's why your ratings are so much better than those of your mock competitors!"
And at a rally in Michigan last month, Trump congratulated Fox for his "full" ratings, before reviewing a list of "big friends in the media" including, among others, Laura Ingraham, Fox News presenter Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, Tucker Carlson and Jeanine Pirro.

Which makes Trump tweets on Fox News in the last 24 hours all the more remarkable.

"So weird to watch Crazy Bernie on @ FoxNews," Trump tweeted from the town hall with the Vermont senator who ran on Fox News Monday night. "Unsurprisingly, @BretBaier and the" public "were so smiling and kind, very strange, and now we have @donnabrazile?"
Later in the day, Trump was again: "Many Trump fans and billboards were outside @FoxNews Studio last night in the now flourishing (thanks Trump chairman) of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for his interview with Crazy Bernie Sanders. what happens with @ FoxNews? "
Let's deal with the facts first. According to Allentown Morning-Call, the local newspaper of the city of Bethlehem, seat of the town hall, the audience was composed of "various political and local groups of the region" and an assortment of public demands formulated after the town hall. has been announced.
There were pro-Trump protesters demonstrating against Sanders in front of City Hall, but the morning call also quotes a Trump supporter who went to City Hall. .

So, nothing proves that Trump insinuates that Fox News deliberately gathered the audience at the town hall with Sanders supporters and banned pro-Trump voices from being admitted. Zero.

This kind of unspoken claim from the president is nothing new, of course. The Washington Post's Fact Checker blog revealed that Trump had made more than 9,000 false or misleading statements during his first 773 days in office. And Trump is also – and has always been – a conspiracy theorist in the soul. All his political life was started in the middle of a theory of conspiracy denied the birthplace of former President Barack Obama. He claimed, without any evidence, that 3 to 5 million people had voted illegally in 2016. He said, without proof, that Obama had ordered a wiretapping of his phones at Trump Tower. He believes that there is a "deep state" within the federal government to recover it. And so on.

What has changed in the last 24 hours is the target Trump's anger – he turns on his biggest media ally, biting the hand that feeds him. It's a simple fact that Fox News, as a network, has done more to help elect Donald Trump than any other person or entity in the country. And it is also true that Fox News – especially its prime time programming, including Sean Hannity, Trump's most loyal media ally – has continued to advocate for the President and his policies since his arrival at the White House.

That's why Trump is so stunned by what he considers to be betrayal. Fox News, in his mind, is his network. They are the good guys. So why do they even offer Sanders a chance to get the town hall? Sanders is not nice with Trump. Heck, he's really mean. So why does the president's network give him a platform?

This response from Trump is incredibly revealing as far as his way of seeing and interacting with the media is concerned. Trump does not understand or worry about the idea that the media, at their best, are supposed to be neutral arbiters in the country's endless political struggles. That the work of the media does not always consist of taking sides for a party, but holding both parties accountable for their policies and statements.

In the spirit of Trump, there are only two types of media: those who hate him and those who love him. The first are the so-called "false news". The latter is fine, Fox News.

Trump's understanding of the media does not allow for nuance. If you're on Fox – even if you're a long-time reporter with a reputation for fairness, like Baier or the "Fox News Sunday" host, Chris Wallace, Trump is waiting for that that you are a Trump pro. If Hannity does it – and gets excellent grades! – Why not you Why do you hate Trump? And why are you allowed to be on the air if you hate Trump? (The reality, of course, is that Baier does not hate Trump, neither are Wallaces.These are simply reporters who believe that it's important to ask real – and sometimes harsh – questions and hear all of them. parties on important issues of the day.)

None of this calculates for Trump. His vision of the Manichean world does not allow it. Fox News is supposed to be fully on his side. So why does Bernie Sanders play in prime time? And be applauded!

Trump's betrayal is as predictable as palpable. Even for a network like Fox News which, with a few notable exceptions, has engaged in pro-Trump coverage, it will never meet the expectations of the president, who are content to tell good stories about "your favorite president" . Trump expects Fox News, and really all media, to act as an intermediary between a public relations firm, with him as a single customer and a hype man.

This – even in these polarized political times – is a recipe for disappointment.

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