President Trump took a swipe at Fox News during his campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Monday night, questioning the network for hosting a town hall with Democratic presidential candidates such as South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
“What is going on with Fox? What is going on there? They’re putting more Democrats on than you have Republicans,” Trump said. Something strange is going on — something very strange.”
The comment drew several boos from the audience.
“I did want to watch, you always have to watch the competition, if you want to call it,” Trump continued referring to Buttigieg’s town hall Sunday evening. “And he was knocking the hell out of Fox and Fox has put him there. Someone’s going to have to explain the whole Fox deal to me.”
Buttigieg’s town hall on Sunday drew 1.1 million viewers, despite airing on the same evening as popular shows including the “Game of Thrones” series finale and the “American Idol” season finale.
Trump previously hit Fox News on Sunday, writing on Twitter: “Hard to believe that @FoxNews is wasting airtime on Mayor Pete.”
The criticism comes as a surprise from Trump, who frequently hits so-called “fake news” networks but mostly praises Fox News. In 2017, Trump praised “Fox & Friends” for being named “most influential” because he watches the show, and has appeared for over a dozen interviews on the network since becoming president.