Trump’s Attacks Working as Supporters Flee Fox News for OAN and Newsmax

Ever since he was named the Republican nominee in 2016, Fox News has fawned over Donald Trump. Hosts like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson dedicated entire shows to defending the president no matter what he does. Others, like Jeanine Pirro and Lou Dobbs go even further delving into ridiculous conspiracy theories.

But anything less than 100% positive coverage isn’t enough for Trump. And 100% positive coverage is what the president receives from channels like Newsmax and OAN. In turn, Trump has told his supporters to turn off Fox in favor of those two channels. And it seems to be working as Fox’s ratings and favorability are down among Trump supporters.

This morning, the Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt reported:

“Among the 25-54-year-old demographic, Newsmax’s flagship show, hosted by Greg Kelly, reeled in 229,000 viewers, compared to Fox News’ Martha MacCallum’s 203,000. The channel has experienced a real surge since the election, after Fox News came under fire, and Newsmax’s nightly shows have drawn 700-800,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. Republicans’ perception of Fox News has shifted too: since the election, Fox News’ favorability among GOP supporters has dropped from 67% to 54%.”

The final straw for Trump seems to have been Fox’s early call for Arizona on election night. This call prevented Trump from credibly claiming victory on election night.

The report continues, “The rise has been fueled by Donald Trump’s frequent turns on Fox News. It’s hard to tell how serious Trump’s turn on the network is. He has criticized Fox, but repeatedly plugs segments – segments favoring him – on Twitter, mostly clips from Sean Hannity’s show, or Tucker Carlson.”