Former President Trump ripped into Fox News on Tuesday over its coverage of the political ascendance of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
“So interesting to watch FoxNews cover the small and unenthusiastic 139 person crowd in Staten Island for DeSantis, but stay as far away as possible from coverage of the thousands of people, many unable to get in, at the Club 47 event in West Palm Beach, Florida,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday.
“I call FoxNews the RINO Network, and their DOWN BIG Ratings accurately reflect the name,” Trump said, using an acronym referring to the phrase “Republican in Name Only.”
“If FAKE NEWS CNN was smart, which they’re not, they’d go Conservative & “All Trump, All the Time,” like in 2016, and become a Ratings Juggernaut,” Trump added.
During his time in the White House, Trump could typically count on top hosts at Fox — the top-rated cable news channel in 2022 — to heap praise on him and his administration.
While some of the top Fox News hosts remain supportive of Trump, the network’s news segments about the former president have grown increasingly cool in recent months.
Some hosts have also signaled an interest in DeSantis, who is widely expected to consider a run for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2024.
Trump separately railed against the New York Post on Sunday after it published a profile on DeSantis, calling him “a RINO who is trying to hide his past.”