Donald Trump on Monday accused Fox News of downplaying his popularity with potential 2024 voters in favor of boosting potential challenger Ron DeSantis.
“FoxNews is promoting Ron DeSanctus so hard and so much that there’s not much time left for Real News,” the former president wrote on Truth Social. “Reminds me of 2016 when they were pushing ‘JEB!’ The new Fox Poll, which have always been purposely terrible for me, has “TRUMP Crushing DeSanctimonious,” but they barely show it. Instead they go with losers like Karl Rove, Paul Ryan and now, even “Yesper,” who have been wrong about everything! Isn’t there a big, beautiful, Network which wants to do well, and make a fortune besides? FAKE NEWS!”
DeSantis is set to release his new book The Courage to be Free on Tuesday, and on Sunday night sat down with Fox News host Mark Levin for a friendly interview. DeSantis gave a preview of what his expected campaign is likely to key on by bashing “the woke.”
DeSantis also accused “bureaucrats” of having stripped Trump of his right to executive governance, stating that it would be necessary to “re-constitutionalize” the executive branch under a Republican president.
Fox News has served as Trump’s personal propaganda network for years, but that hasn’t kept him from criticizing the network, especially its coverage of DeSantis as the legitimate presidential candidate he appears to be.
While he has yet to declare his candidacy for 2024, the hype around DeSantis has had Trump on edge for months. Prominent Republican donors have been eying DeSantis as their horse in the race to unseat President Joe Biden, and some of Trump’s former opponents, including Jeb Bush, have already endorsed DeSantis. Trump has responded by leveling all forms of attack against the Florida governor, including name calling, accusationts of pedophilia, and petty gossip.
Trump has also accused evangelical groups and Jewish leaders, in addition to Fox News, of being disloyal to him in the months following the party’s disappointing performance in the midterm elections, for which many have blamed Trump and his obsession with the 2020 election. Trump made clear on Sunday he’s not letting the last election go, and is already getting a jump on alleging that the 2024 election will be stolen.
“Crooked Democrat Prosecutors, many of them Racists in Reverse, are trying to steal a second Presidential Election,” he wrote on Truth Social. “They did it in 2020, and we’re not going to let them do it again in 2024.”
Sources have told Rolling Stone that Trump has been worried DeSantis is “stealing” his bit, and in all fairness, the Florida governor has indeed embraced the vindictive style of culture war-based governance elevated by Trump. Florida has become the focal point and experimental sandbox of the GOP’s project to reshape institutions. Under DeSantis’ governance, the state has implemented a series of laws and policies to codify LGBTQ discrimination, severely restrict efforts to educate on racial and cultural diversity, radically reshape public education, and punish corporations and institutions who dain to speak out against the radical shifts in Florida’s government.
Despite Trump’s rekindled ire toward Fox News, the network released a poll on Sunday showing Trump walloping DeSantis in a potential primary matchup pulling in 43 percent compared to 28 percent. Nikki Haley and Mike Pence are tied for third at 7 percent.
