(The Hill) — Former President Donald Trump tore into Fox News’ flagship morning program on Monday, lashing out at its hosts for their coverage of his polling as he eyes another run for president in 2024.
“Fox and Freinds] just really botched my poll numbers, no doubt on purpose,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, the social network platforming he started after leaving office. “That show has been terrible — gone to the ‘dark side.’ They quickly quote the big Turning Point Poll victory of almost 60 points over the number two Republican, and then hammer me with outliers.”
Trump was referencing the network’s coverage of a new Turning Point USA poll, released on Sunday and showing the former president well ahead of every other potential Republican primary challenger.
“That is a little different than a couple of other polls we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks,” host Steve Doocy said, referencing other national polling that has shown Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) ahead of Trump in several age demographics. “So it’s like the young people who are activists at that [TPUSA] event like the former president, but looking at these other polls, different answer.”
Co-host Brian Kilmeade added, “If you look state by state, Ron DeSantis is showing tremendous strength in New Hampshire, Michigan and Florida.”
Trump, in his comments blasting the network, referenced “RINO Paul Ryan,” who he called “one of the weakest and worst Speakers EVER,” and suggested the former congressman “must be running the place.”
Ryan sits on the board of Fox Corp., which is owned by Rupert Murdoch and operates Fox News Channel and its various other media properties.
Trump’s comments come as Murdoch-owned newspapers the New York Post and Wall Street Journal have criticized Trump, editorializing that he is unworthy of another stint in the White House, and failed as president during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
While discussing the recent Jan. 6 hearings on Capitol Hill over which she has presided, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a frequent Trump foil, named checked Murdoch while she argued some conservative media might have soured on Trump.
During his time as president, Trump routinely touted Fox’s morning program, appearing live via phone often and live tweeting his thoughts on various segments.
Last week, Ainsley Earhardt, the show’s third co-host, said in reaction to news made by the Jan. 6 hearings that Congress should also probe the riots that broke out during protests for racial justice across the country during the summer of 2020.