Morning Joe Warns Trump’s ‘Risky Bet’ He’s Bigger Than Fox News Could ‘Absolutely Come Back and Hurt Him’
Morning Joe took on Donald Trump’s habit of trashing Fox News as they debated how it might affect the former president’s run for re-election.
For months, Trump has gone on Truth Social countless times to excoriate Fox News whenever the network does something he disapproves of. The latest anti-Fox tirade involved Trump railing at The Wall Street Journal over a recent poll of theirs that asked voters how they feel about his age and mentality.
On Monday, Joe Scarborough took on Trump’s “war with Fox News” by saying it reflects how “splintered” the Republican Party currently is. Scarborough made this point while saying he recently spoke with a Trump supporter who gets all their news from Newsmax.
“We have a guy who wants to be the Republican nominee who is trashing Fox News every day,” said Scarborough. “Fox News, they’ll get by… But I’m just saying, when you have a Republican Party that is that splintered, with Donald Trump dividing it right down the middle, it doesn’t bode well for next year.”
Jonathan Lemire agreed by summarizing it as, “Trump is making the bet that he’s bigger than Fox, that he doesn’t need Fox.”
That’s a risky bet to make. We know what power they have wielded for such a long time. And it’s true. They were supportive, eventually, of Trump in 2016. They were all in on 2020, and they’ve kind of gone back and forth here like he has.
They certainly seemed to be flirting with the candidacy of Ron DeSantis for a while, as that has stalled. Looking at their coverage, analysts say that it’s pretty warmed up to Trump again for the most part. But that’s not good enough for Trump. Trump wants simply, almost a Kim Jong-un-esque chorus of just nothing but support at all times. So therefore, if there’s any even slightly dissenting voices he singles out in these posts, a particular piece in the Wall Street Journal, the occasional anchor and Fox News, if they’re not just giving him lavish praise at all times, that’s not good enough, and he goes scorched earth against them.
Lemire concluded by saying that even though Trump’s on track to clench the GOP’s nomination for the 2024 presidential election, “he can’t afford to lose any support” in the party’s “fractured” state if he wants to be President Joe Biden.
“He would need every single vote he can,” Lemire said. “And if he’s turning off some Republicans, if he doesn’t get that full-throated endorsement of Fox News next time around, that could — to your point, Joe — absolutely come back and hurt him.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
