One aspect of the 2016 race for the White House was the openly partisan role of the media for or against the Republican candidate #Donald Trump. The Press Corps was divided by a man who used division to win the election and he was supported in an open unequivocal way by Breitbart News, whose chief Steve Bannon is now part of the white house staff and by Fox News. In recent weeks this open support by the Rupert Murdoch owned television channel has shown signs of weakening, at least by some of its presenters.
Stormy start
In the stormy start of what can only be described as an unorthodox and so far controversial Presidency Fox News has provided much needed and open support for the beleaguered Donald Trump.
In the course of his frequent twitter rages he has attacked the mainstream media such as the New Your Times and CNN and lavished praise in Fox News for its support.
Strangely this support from Fox News has been affected by the very tweets in which the President has used to praise the network.
In recent weeks the President has been under pressure due to the allegations of Russian interference in his favour during the presidential campaign. These allegations have been directed at Donald Trump and members of his team, including some who then became part of the White House staff.
The most famous victim of the scandal so far is former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn who resigned over his contacts with Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s Ambassador to the United States.
Last week Attorney General Jeff Sessions was also involved in the matter after revelations that he too had met the Russian Ambassador. As result he decided to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigations on the allegations.
These two incidents led to last weekend’s twitter rages by the President and reports of his furious reaction of Jeff Session’s decision.
These reactions from the Oval Office did not go unnoticed by Fox News,
Nuclear codes
Since the Inauguration a number of Fox News presenters have expressed open criticism of the White House.
Shephard Smith drew the ire of diehard FOX News fans for asking the President to reveal the truth about the contacts with the Russians. Veteran journalist Bill O’Reilly also questioned the President in an interview in regards to his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin which drew protests from Moscow about his use of the word “killer” referring to the ex KGB agent.
When White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer banned newspapers from a briefing some members of Fox News criticized the decision and gave their support to those affected.
In the latest such incident yesterday Fox News Bob Beckel talking about Donald Trump’s accusations that the Obama Administration had ordered wiretaps of Trump Tower during the presidential campaign that "Trump Shouldn't Have the Nuclear Codes Because 'He's Starting to Lose It"
Only time will tell if these are only isolated incidents or if they are the first cracks in the Fox News’ wall around the Oval Office. But one thing is certain; the President should begin considering the effects of his twitter rages when even some his most ardent supporters are openly criticizing him on their programmes.
Will the future see these changes in the friendly press as the beginning of the end of the Trump phenomenon?
