The biggest story in American politics over the last two weeks has been Donald Trump's claim that former President Barack Obama found a way to wiretap his office in Trump Tower. After Trump and the administration attempted to use Fox News as a source, one network host decided to fire back.
Fox News on Trump
Earlier this month, the Washington Post ran a story that accused current Attorney General Jeff Sessions of meeting with the ambassador of Russia on two different occasions during the 2016 presidential election. In an attempt to deflect from the scandal, Donald Trump took to Twitter and alleged that Barack Obama spied on him during his campaign for president.
Despite presenting no evidence to back up the claim in question, Trump and the White House have continued to stand by their story. Adding fuel to the fire earlier this week was Fox News contributor Judge Andrew Napolitano, who claimed the Obama administration was using British spies to wiretap Trump. The president ran with this information and said the entire Fox News network had backed Napolitano's story. As seen during a March 17 broadcast, host Shepard Smith was forced to correct the record.
During a press conference on Friday at the White House, Donald Trump met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and joked about the two being wiretapped by Barack Obama. The attempt at humor comes from a previous report in Wikileaks, which has not yet been verified.
"There was no evidence of that," Shepard Smith said. "Of course, the president could learn first hand whether the building in which he lives was wiretapped," Smith continued, before noting, "all he has to do is ask the intelligence services, they work for him."
Shep Smith: ‘Fox News Cannot Confirm Judge Napolitano’s Commentary’ https://t.co/usZhqsM9pd (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/qBZpLsukwP
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) March 17, 2017
Fox fires back
Shepard Smith played a clip of a German reporter questioning Donald Trump about the administration citing Napolitano's allegations of Obama working with the UK, which led to the president appearing to blame the network for the incorrect information, stating, "ask Fox News."
#coppednews Fox News responds to Trump's demand to ask Fox News https://t.co/0do0tvEHrc
— Copped News (@CoppedNews) March 17, 2017
Smith then hit back at the president for shifting the blame of the allegations onto the network.
"Fox News cannot confirm Judge Napolitano's commentary," Smith noted, while stating, "Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now-President of the United States was surveilled at any time in any way." As of press time, the White House has not yet responded to the network pushing back at the administration.