DeSantis blasts Fox News, claiming network protects Trump to juice ratings
DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis on Friday accused Fox News and other conservative news outlets of propping up former President Donald Trump to keep their audiences.
Before running for president, DeSantis was a mainstay on Fox News and other conservative outlets, which often treated the Florida governor to friendly and nonchallenging interviews.
"[Trump’s] got basically a Praetorian Guard of the conservative media. Fox News, the websites, all this stuff,” said the Florida governor, referring to the bodyguard for Roman emperors. “They just don't — they don’t hold him accountable because they're worried about losing viewers and they don’t want to have the ratings go down.”
“I’m not complaining about it,” he added. “I’d rather that not be the case, but I think that’s just an objective reality.”
DeSantis made his comments while answering a question from a reporter outside his campaign headquarters in Des Moines, where he was asked whether voters were moved by his criticisms of Trump, his rival for the GOP presidential nomination.
Asked about the comments, Fox pointed to his appearance at a Fox News town hall on Tuesday, on Sean Hannity Thursday night, did an interview with Martha MacCallum on Friday and is slated to appear on “Fox News Sunday.”
DeSantis is just a few days away from the Jan. 15 Caucus Day in Iowa, where Trump is ahead of him by roughly 35 points in the polls.
Despite his criticism of Fox, DeSantis has embraced the network for years. He first caught Trump’s attention — and his eventual endorsement for his 2018 gubernatorial race — when he was a member of Congress and regularly went on Fox News to criticize special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
DeSantis continues to embrace the network as a 2024 presidential candidate. He appeared at a Fox News town hall on Tuesday, on Sean Hannity Thursday night, did an interview with Martha MacCallum on Friday and is slated to appear on "Fox News Sunday."
Trump frequently complains about what he calls the “fake news” but speaks to reporters often. He held a separate town hall on Fox News on Wednesday while DeSantis and former U.N ambassador Nikki Haley debated each other on CNN.
Trump too, however, complained about Fox in 2020, saying the network didn’t help him and other Republicans get reelected. Last year, Fox settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $800 million, after Dominion argued the network damaged its reputation by airing false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election that Trump lost.
Trump's spokesperson Steven Cheung said DeSantis is simply complaining "because he knows this is the end of the road for him."