Earlier this week, Fox News host Sean Hannity made his debut at 9 p.m. going head-to-head with Rachel Maddow of MSNBC. Former Network host Bill O'Reilly decided to bring up the ratings war on Twitter, which received a promotion on social media by Donald Trump.
Trump's promotion
Throughout the entire 2016 presidential election, it was more than obvious that Donald Trump and the majority of the mainstream media didn't have the best relationship. It started when Trump kicked off his campaign by labeling illegal immigrants from Mexico as "rapists" and "murderers," which drew the line in the sand for how the media would cover him moving forward.
Most reporters and journalists held Trump's feet to the fire, but that wasn't the case for most at Fox News. Two of the president's biggest supporters came in the form of host Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly, who made his first appearance on the network this week after being fired due to sexual harassment allegations going public. After the ratings came in and found that Hannity drew more viewers than his MSNBC counterpart during his new 9 p.m time-slot, O'Reilly gave a shoutout on Twitter, which was re-tweeted by Trump on September 28.
Hannity crushing MSNBC at 9. Good for him! Check the No Spin News on https://t.co/rryWmyXe7C. Killing England a huge bestseller - thank you!
— Bill O'Reilly (@billoreilly) September 28, 2017
Taking to his Twitter account on Thursday night, former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly made sure to congratulate Sean Hannity for beating Rachel Maddow and MSNBC in the ratings.
"Hannity crushing MSNBC at 9. Good for him!" O'Reilly tweeted out. In the second half of his tweet, the former host went on to plug his website "the No Spin News," before doing the same for his new book, stating, "Killing England a huge bestseller - thank you!" Just an hour later, the post was retweeted by Donald Trump.
President Trump Retweets Bill O'Reilly Praising Hannity's Ratings Win Over Maddow https://t.co/9QLTgNPbCu pic.twitter.com/pSwrneVzBF
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) September 29, 2017
Bill O'Reilly appeared on "Hannity" earlier this week, making his long-awaited return to the network for the first time in months after the aforementioned sexual harassment scandal made headline news.
The two joined forces in supporting Trump in his much-reported feud with the National Football League over whether or not players should be allowed to protest the national anthem. According to the Nielsen ratings, "Hannity" pulled in an average rating of 3.27 million viewers, compared to 2.66 million for "The Rachel Maddow Show" on MSNBC.
Next up
While Donald Trump spends time sending some virtual love to two of his biggest supporters in the conservative media, it's not reflective in his most recent approval rating. According to the latest polling, Trump's favorability numbers are down to just 35 percent.