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President Donald Trump speaks at the Republican ticket in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018 in Erie, Pa. (Keith Srakocic / Associated Press)
NEW YORK – Fox News Channel has recently pulled back from airing President Donald Trump's campaign-style rallies during prime time, a move that could put a crimp in Republican efforts to reach voters in the elections before midterm.
During much of the late summer, Fox would be pre-empting its lucrative nightly lineup of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham in order to air the rallies. None of its rivals did so. It was an important platform for the president and his supporters, since Fox's opinion is their first choice for political coverage.
On Tuesday of last week, Carlson told viewers that Fox would be monitoring the president's rally of Mississippi and would break in for any news. He did not say anything about Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who had the Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual harassment.
During Martha MacCallum's show two nights later, Fox showed a portion of Trump speaking in Minnesota with the battle over Kavanaugh's mission coming to a climax. With Hurricane Michael in the news Wednesday, Fox did not air Trump's rally from Pennsylvania.
Without live coverage of his rally on Wednesday, the president found other ways to reach Fox's audience. He's got a phone interview with Fox's Shannon Bream on Wednesday night and called "Fox & Friends" show on Thursday.
Trump has rallies scheduled for Ohio on Friday night and Kentucky on Saturday. With the knowledge that his presidency is a key issue despite not being on the ballot, the White House is planning an aggressive schedule of appearances for the next three weeks to be rallied to boost GOP candidates.
As with most things on television, ratings are likely behind it. During the Kavanaugh saga, viewership has been high in general. This past weekend had its best prime-time ratings since 2003.
The calculus may change again with less urgent news and the election getting closer. A Fox News spokesperson had no immediate comment on the change.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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