Trump accuses Fox News of giving too much airtime to GOP opponents
Trump going after Fox News is the political equivalent of a batter yelling at his own pitcher. The network has been broadly supportive of him for years, but here he is complaining that it hands too much airtime to Democrats ahead of the midterms. It's a reminder that no outlet, no matter how friendly, is ever supportive enough for a president staring down tight races.
What makes this worth watching is the pressure it puts on Fox to choose between news judgment and loyalty. Covering both sides of a race is standard journalism. But when the sitting president publicly scolds you for balance, the message to producers is clear, even if nobody says it out loud.
I'd want to know whether this changes anything in Fox's actual coverage, or whether it's just another round of public grumbling. Presidents have complained about the press forever, but usually it's the hostile press they target. When a president spends a Sunday attacking his own ally, it says more about how anxious his party is about November than about the network's programming.
Trump does have a fair point that heavy coverage of opponents can boost name recognition in close contests. But the real story is the relationship, not the ratings. Fox will keep covering the races. Trump may keep complaining. And voters will decide whether any of it mattered.