MAGA rally crowds shrink, Trump slams Fox News

Donald Trump Throughout his political career, the media has been seen as a mainstay. Friendly channels are the audience for his performance, while hostile channels are the opponents for his performance. But the president has never met a supporter who stopped cooperating. That’s why he spent days raging against nearly every corner of the media, including a network he owns long regarded as one’s own. Increasingly obsessed with controlling the image of his political decline rather than facing reality, Trump embarked on a campaign of intimidation as his usual histrionics began to emerge. In the end, nothing happened After more than ten years of rule. But intimidating Fox News and continuing to sideline CNN and POLITICO cannot hide the obvious: shrinking crowds and falling poll numbers.

During a whirlwind weekend of rallies in Alabama, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas, the cracks in MAGA’s facade became impossible to ignore. Trump has long viewed the size of crowds at rallies as a sign of legitimacy and dominance. In his eyes, the image of a packed arena was proof that the country loved him, that the media had lied to him and that his political project remained invincible. that’s why see The high school gymnasium is packed and silent cable coverage tell a less than flattering story cut deeply.

“In fact, the events I host for very good Republican politicians are probably more crowded than ever. There are no empty seats, there haven’t been in years, and there never will be. The gatherings are ‘hotter’ than ever,” he Wrote Speaking on “The Truth Society” on Monday, he demanded that “The New York Times and many other manufactured media outlets be arrested for dishonesty.” The president cited a Times report that, at an event on Friday, Trump’s venue on the University of South Alabama campus was not full; Trump’s midterm campaign swing feels “more like a farewell tour.”

But the day before, Trump turned his attention to a less obvious target.

“It’s a shame to see that Fox & Friends (Sunday) didn’t cover our packed houses and the incredibly passionate (and beyond!) rally in Ohio last night, or the rallies that took place in Alabama, Texas or Oklahoma over the past two days,” he said release Truth Social on Sunday mornings. He insisted the rally was “absolutely extraordinary and better than ever before”. “Our people want to see our rallies and have our rallies covered on Fox News or they will quickly stop watching (like I am doing now!).”

This is the second time in five days that Trump has attacked conservative media giants by name, and this time he brought a list of attacks. He accused Fox of forcing Democrats to kill “MAGA” and demanded to know who fired “The Great Maria Bartiromo,” the former host reportedly Share intranet communications with management. “Who makes these decisions at Fox News?” Trump asked before asking the network to cover his “incident” or get the ratings of “Fake News CNN or MSNOW” anytime soon, because “Fox has tried this before and nearly bankrupted it (and always before an election!). It could happen again!”

But before Trump’s tirade, Fox had already covered the Ohio rally. A Snapstream search found that “Fox & Friends Weekend” aired segments from events supporting Senate candidate Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy in Vandalia shortly before Trump’s announcement, focusing on his comments at the data center. Still, it’s worth noting that the network’s swing pattern in four states showed hosts mocking the president’s speeches and conducting live reporter coverage but rarely broadcasting rallies live. While Fox did not broadcast Trump’s speech in Ohio live, it aired a report on the hour showing Ramaswamy warming up the crowd. The network did the same in Alabama on Friday and in North Carolina last month.

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But there are exceptions. Sean Hannity aired a 36-minute non-stop broadcast in Oklahoma on Thursday. But the usual methods are no secret—and This didn’t start this weekend. Notably, Fox opened “The Five” and “The Will Caine Show” with footage from the rally on Monday in the wake of Trump’s attacks.

The president has been escalating his rhetoric against the network for months. In April, he Tell Fox executives “Get Jessica Tarlov off the air.” He also attacked hosts Bret Baier and Shannon Bream, complaining that the latter failed to challenge Democratic congressmen on Sunday’s show. As CNN’s Brian Stelter tells famousAccording to Fox calculations, Trump’s rallies are long, repetitive and generate little news and “will not attract ratings at this time.” That certainly wasn’t the case at the Texas Republican National Committee’s midterm convention, which required just one segment on “The Five” each day; most of the speakers never appeared online. Ironically, this unprecedented spectacle resulted in A rare reverse rebound That resulted in Trump’s net approval rating falling while Democrats’ advantage in the popular vote increased.

When CNN’s Kristen Holmes asked Trump about NBC News/Telemundo polling On Monday, with his approval rating among Latino voters at just 27 percent, he interrupted, “You’re fake news! You’re CNN. You’re fake news. My poll numbers are great, and all you have to do is look at the crowds we’re attracting.” A few days earlier, he had delivered a typically vulgar speech: Special mention to CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins in front of a hostile crowd, eliciting angry boos and vicious chants. Trump’s media strategy hinges on lumping all adverse facts into the same category: enemy propaganda.

The government’s treatment of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO makes this purpose impossible Even the White House press corps ignored it. On Monday, the White House banned Politico from aboard Air Force One, preventing the outlet from fulfilling its role in the presidential press library where it was scheduled to serve as a print representative. Trump has removed CNN from in-flight TV channels, replacing them with friendly outlets like LindellTV and Real America’s Voice.

The legal battle over that control came to a head on Thursday, when federal judge Timothy J. Kelly, a Trump appointee, was scheduled to hear arguments over whether to extend the president’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from entering the White House. Last month, Kelly issued a temporary restraining order requiring the government to reinstate the media’s accreditation, rejecting, at least for now, the government’s justification for canceling access on national security grounds.

Still, the Justice Department late Friday asked the court to allow the ban to be reinstated, suggesting in government documents that “bona fide journalists will identify sources rather than rely on anonymous sources.” That reasoning is especially fertile, coming from the White House, which often briefs reporters on background and requires their anonymity under its own ground rules. One of the “reporting incidents” against POLITICO was a report in June that quoted a “senior administration official” – exactly the arrangement requested by the White House.

From the court to the truth society, Trump’s increasingly frenzied media attacks have exposed serious weaknesses in his political model. he is A president with nothing to sell. but He needs constant reassurance that his movement is growing. That illusion becomes harder to maintain when Fox News also refuses to provide uninterrupted verification.

The American public is increasingly seeing through the smoke and mirrors of “MAGA.” Ultimately, no amount of bullying, administrative bans, or early morning social media rants can hide the fact that one month before midterms Elections, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee additional This week, six more candidates were added to the “red and blue” slate, and districts Trump will win in 2024 will lead by an average of 16 percentage points or more.