‘Soft ban’ of Donald Trump: Fox News is distancing itself

American news channel ‘Soft ban’ of Donald Trump: Fox News distances itself from the former president

The friendly relationship between US station Fox News and Donald Trump has suffered greatly – apparently more than previously thought. According to information from the “Semaphore” news site, the relationship between the former president and the conservative outlet has so warmed that Fox News issued an internal “soft ban” on Trump. Semaphore claims to have learned this from four members of his inner circle.

Trump’s rivals continue to find a platform at Fox

“Everyone knows there is this ‘soft ban’ or ‘silent ban’,” a source close to Trump told Semaphore — one of whom knows about the ban directly from the Fox staff. Although some moderates tried to coax Trump into the show during prime time, it never happened in the finale.

It is understood that they will not invite Trump for an interview because the Murdoch family [die Eigentümerfamilie, Anm. d. Red.] They made it clear they wanted to turn their backs on Trump… Fox is showing it by not inviting him,” a Republican staffer familiar with the Trump campaign reportedly told the media.

Unlike the prime minister, who seems to be falling out of favor, other senior Republicans continue to find a platform on Fox News almost every day. For example, Trump’s rival Nikki Haley has reportedly appeared on Fox News seven times since she announced her presidential bid in mid-February. The lesser-known right-wing activist and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and potential future top candidate Ron DeSantis have recently been seen several times. Trump’s last appearance on Fox News was months ago. In September he interviewed his friend, star presenter Sean Hannity.

Since his political rise, Trump has used the station almost as a personal marketplace. From the White House, he regularly called the studio spontaneously during his favorite shows and he himself tuned in live. According to the British newspaper “The Guardian”, Trump published 657 tweets in 2019 alone, in which he responded to the broadcaster’s or “Fox Business” content.

The Trump adviser told “Semaphore” that the former president wants to push to appear on Fox News again in the coming months, when the election campaign gradually picks up.

Fox owner Rupert Murdoch admits false statements from TV anchors – Trump hits back

The channel’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, recently admitted that some of its broadcasters deliberately spread lies about the 2020 presidential election. According to US media, this emerged from court documents reflecting sworn statements by the 91-year-old from early February. “Some of our commentators agreed,” the media mogul said, referring to false claims that the election was stolen from then-incumbent Trump.

However, Murdoch made it clear that he had serious doubts about the allegations. Murdoch said he could have stopped the show by defeating Trump supporters for spreading lies about voter fraud on Fox after the election. “But I didn’t,” he admitted.

“If Rupert Murdoch truly believes the 2020 presidential election hasn’t been rigged or stolen despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, then so should he and his group of Maja-hating Rhinos [Republikaner, die seiner Ansicht nach nur formal zur Partei gehören] Get out of the news business ASAP,” Trump responded on his Truth Social platform.

Voting machine manufacturer Dominion has filed a lawsuit against Fox News. Dominion is seeking the equivalent of €1.5 billion in damages because the broadcaster published reports of alleged tampering with voting machines. Court documents show that the Fox broadcasters feared losing viewers’ interest if they did not support Trump’s allegations of voter fraud. To this day, the Republican untruthfully claims that fraud robbed him of his election victory.

sources:”Traffic lights“;” The Guardian”; with dpa