Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon tore into Fox News for cutting away from a Donald Trump speech over the weekend and fact-checking the former president’s election conspiracies, calling the conservative cable giant “TV for stupid people” and an “absolute disgrace.”
Briefly covering the GOP frontrunner’s campaign rally in Iowa on Saturday, Fox News anchor Arthel Neville pulled away from the twice-impeached ex-president’s tirade to remind viewers that Trump’s claims about a “rigged” election remained baseless.
“Well, the former president finally got around to some campaign promises amid lots of cheering, and as you heard, many untruths,” she said. “The 2020 election was not rigged. It was not stolen. But still, Trump is way ahead in the polls.”
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Earlier this fall, The Daily Beast reported that the right-wing network, which is mired in an increasingly frosty relationship with Trump, has essentially banned the ex-president from making live appearances on the channel. Fox News, of course, recently settled Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit—which accused the network of knowingly peddling Trump’s election lies to boost sagging ratings—for an eye-popping $787.5 million.
Bannon, one of the key instigators of Trump’s efforts to illegally remain in power after losing the 2020 election, was beside himself on Monday that Fox had the temerity to cut off Trump.
“It’s a disgrace,” Bannon raged on his podcast, adding: “He didn’t lose the 2020 election. Oh no, you’re totally incorrect, and we don’t care if you wrote an $800 million dollar check, or a billion dollar check, two billion dollar check to keep the demon father of all this, [Rupert] Murdoch, himself from being humiliated on the stand.”
Complaining that Fox News’ settlement “just reinforced all the other problems people have to do with trying to get this right,” Bannon declared that election deniers in Arizona were “heroes” before lashing out further at Fox.
“You at Fox, TV for stupid people, are cowards,” he fumed. “And for you to cut in on Trump in Iowa and say that crap, shows you everything you want to know about what you guys are. OK? Just like that debate with Newsom and [Ron DeSantis] last week, and Hannity should be ashamed of himself. Absolute disgrace. Everything they do is to try to stop Trump, or stop some aspect of Trump!”
