Donald Trump and Fox News have had a complicated relationship over the years.
The top-rated cable news network hasn’t always been an ally.
And Sean Hannity had one awful request to Donald Trump about Fox News that surprised everyone.
Sean Hannity asked Donald Trump to stop attacking Fox News
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch was ready to move on from President Donald Trump after the 2020 Election.
The founder of Fox News began to promote the next most popular Republican, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in his media empire which includes the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
DeSantis was featured on the cover of the Post on the day after the 2022 Midterm Elections with the headline “DeFuture.”
Cover of the New York post. DeFUTURE pic.twitter.com/2SS3BO3z7H
— Nicky 🇺🇸🦅 (@NickyScatz) November 9, 2022
Trump didn’t appear on Fox News until the end of March 2023 after he launched his Presidential campaign in November 2022.
He began attacking Fox News after the network turned on him.
A new book by Axios reporter Alex Isenstadt titled Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power claimed that Fox News host Sean Hannity asked him to stop attacking Murdoch and the cable news network.
“Please do not hit Fox, do not hit the Murdoch family. Just please, for the love of God, please don’t do it,” Hannity said, according to the book. Mr. President, I’m trying to help you out here with the Fox people here. But you’re not making it easy for me by going after the Murdochs. You’re not helping me. You’re not helping yourself. If you can just lay off, we can start making some moves and getting back to normal.”
Donald Trump’s hot and cold relationship with Fox News
Trump reportedly put the call on speaker phone for his campaign staffers.
“Sean is trying to do the right thing. But, man, the Murdochs? I don’t know,” Trump reportedly said.
A hysterical Hannity turned to Trump’s then-campaign manager Susie Wiles to get him to back off.
“Susie, are you in the room? Susie, can you talk to the President? For the love of God can you talk to the President?” Hannity reportedly pleaded.
Wiles told Hannity that Trump was going to do what he thought was in his best interest.
Trump called Hannity a “good man” and ended the phone call.
Hannity’s pleading didn’t see Trump back down from his criticisms of the network.
Trump periodically attacked Fox News throughout the 2024 Election cycle especially as the network began to bring on more Democrats and surrogates for former Vice President Kamala Harris.
“The problem with FoxNews is that every time they put on someone who is positive and touting all of the good things I have done for the Country, they always feel it necessary to follow up with a really negative voice, often people who are storytellers and willing to outright lie,” Trump wrote on Truth Social last October.
Donald Trump, Jr. claimed that he was blacklisted from Fox News at the Republican National Convention last July and argued that Murdoch’s influence was weakening over the conservative movement.
“There was a time where if you wanted to survive in the Republican Party, you had to bend the knee to him or to others,” Trump Jr. told Axios. “I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”
The rise of new media has made Republican candidates less beholden to Fox News to advance their political careers.
Stay tuned to Unmuzzled News for any updates to this ongoing story.
