Donald Trump said in a Fox News interview Friday that he thinks the network shouldn’t allow any “negative ads” to run about him until after Election Day.
The former president’s astonishingly candid call for the channel to refuse to broadcast messaging that could hurt his chances of returning to the White House came the day after he publicly called out Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott on Truth Social for giving airtime to left-leaning commentators.
Sitting on the Fox & Friends curvy couch on Friday, Trump aired his complaints about the network to some of its biggest stars—and the nation.
ADVERTISEMENT
Trump started talking about his grievances as co-host Steve Doocy tried to introduce some footage from an interview Trump did with Fox & Friends in February 2017, shortly after he’d been sworn in as president.
“Ainsley asked a great question in 2017,” Doocy said, referring to his co-host Ainsley Earhardt. “We’re gonna get in the wayback machine, Mr. President. We’re gonna play that for you, and then we’re gonna update the question.”
“But you know the difference,” Trump said, interjecting seemingly as the footage was about to roll. “In the old days, you never played negative ads. In other words, when I leave here, I’ll then be hit by five or six ads, and in the old days…”
“You mean Fox News?” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked.
“Yeah,” Trump replied, adding: “When I leave, I’ll have 12 people from Kamala on and, you know, pretty much unopposed.”
His comment appeared to echo his Truth Social grumble on Thursday. “Why does Suzanne Scott of FoxNews keep putting on third rate ‘talking heads’ like Jessica Tarlov, Richard Fowler, Patrick Murphy, ‘something’ Wolf, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and other Radical Left Lunatics that lie, and make up statements, with Fox, rarely having any counter to their storytelling?” Trump wrote in the post. “It is so bad for winning the Most Important Election in the History of our Country. Likewise, not a moment goes by when I’m not looking at negative, false Ads that the other camp stuffs the Fox airwaves with. If I win and, I hope for the Country’s sake that I do, and this Radical Left Moron, Kamala, doesn’t get a chance to run the Country, it is DESPITE Fox, not because of them!”
On Fox & Friends Friday, he doubled down.
“For 19 days, I don’t think we should do that anymore,” Trump said, speaking 17 days out from the election. “I think you shouldn’t play negative ads. It’s very tough. You do a show—and I complain all the time about it, I love complaining, I love complaining, I like to have everything perfect. But when I leave here, I’ll have 200 people from Kamala…”
“Cause they buy time on Fox,” Kilmeade said.
“And you know, by the time you do it, you say: ‘What are you doing?’” Trump continued. “It’s sort of a net neutral,” seemingly meaning that any benefit he gets from doing the show being canceled out by ads and political commentary criticizing him. “We’ll see what happens.”
