President Trump on Sunday renewed his criticism of Fox News, claiming that the network was pandering to the Democratic Party by repeatedly hosting liberal lawmakers to discuss the impeachment inquiry.
“Don’t get why @FoxNews puts losers on like @RepSwalwell (who got ZERO as presidential candidate before quitting), Pramila Jayapal, David Cicilline and others who are Radical Left Haters,” Trump said on Twitter just hours after Fox News anchor Chris Wallace hosted Cicilline, a Democratic congressman from Rhode Island, on “Fox News Sunday.”
“The Dems wouldn’t let @FoxNews get near their bad ratings debates, yet Fox panders,” Trump added, referencing the Democratic National Committee’s decision to block Fox News from hosting a Democratic presidential primary debate. “Pathetic!”
{mosads}Trump has repeatedly gone after Fox News and its hosts in recent months over their coverage of the impeachment inquiry and their willingness to talk to Democratic lawmakers about it. He singled out Fox News host Shannon Bream in late November, asking why she would “waste airtime” by hosting Swalwell, a Democratic congressman from California and a member of the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees.
“Fox should stay with the people that got them there, not losers!” Trump said.
He also attacked Wallace as “nasty” and “obnoxious” earlier that month after the broadcaster aggressively questioned House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) over Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
On Sunday, Wallace and Cicilline, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, discussed Democrats’ movement on drafting articles of impeachment against the president. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said last week that she had directed the panel’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), to move forward with that step.
Cicilline said on “Fox News Sunday” that the House had seen “a classic example of an impeachable offense.”
“The focus is on the president’s misconduct, asking a foreign government to interfere in our elections. … I think all of the potential articles of impeachment are on the table. That will be a decision the Judiciary Committee makes, but the Judiciary Committee will have all the evidence,” he said.
Most of Fox News’s hosts have not commented on Trump’s attacks. But Fox News host Neil Cavuto delivered a vigorous defense of Wallace after the president lashed out in November, saying in a monologue on his show that journalists are “obligated to question” the president and his defenders, even if it means “inviting your wrath.”
“The best we can do as journalists is be fair to all, including you, Mr. President,” Cavuto said. “That’s not fake doing that. What is fake is not doing that. What is fake is saying Fox never used to do that. Mr. President, we have always done that.”
The Hill has reached out to Fox News for comment.
“While you’re busy tweeting insults, we’re busy working to honor our oath of office to protect and defend the constitution and safeguard our democracy,” Cicilline said in a tweet featuring Swalwell and Jayapal, a Democratic congresswoman from the state of Washington.