NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to Donald Trump, unleashed a barrage of attacks here Friday against Fox News and its leader, Rupert Murdoch, a sign of escalating tensions between the former president's political network and the conservative media empire. from Murdoch. .
"You already disrespected Donald J. Trump for a long time," Bannon, who presents a popular right-wing podcasthe said of Murdoch in remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference, which was largely attended by Republicans loyal to Trump.
“Murdoch, you have considered that Trump will not be president,” Bannon added at the end of his fiery speech. "Well, we've considered that you're not going to have a net. Because we're going to fight you every step of the way."
Bannon derisively called the Australian-born Murdoch and his family "a bunch of foreigners" and classified them along with hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell as enemies of Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement.
The volleys came as Trump and his allies soured on Fox News over its coverage of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Meanwhile, the cable network and other media properties owned by Murdoch's News Corp. have featured Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who polls show is Trump's strongest rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, prominently in recent coverage. As part of his ongoing book tour, DeSantis has already appeared in interviews with the New York Post and The Times of London, both Murdoch properties, as well as interviews with Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Jesse Watters and Fox hosts. News. "Fox and friends". DeSantis's memoir was published by Murdoch-owned HarperCollins.
"Old Murdoch, while you're at it, no more soft interviews for the guys running against Trump," Bannon said Friday.
A Fox News spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fox Nation, a streaming platform, has sponsored and broadcast CPAC events in the past. but it didn't this year.
banner He was sentenced to four months in prison in October after he was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack. That sentence has been delayed since he appeals his sentence.
Bannon's comments come days after Dominion Voting Systems' court documents. $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation, were unsealed. Those documents made public a large number of private communications between Fox News hosts and executives that revealed that many did not believe the president's false claims of fraud after the 2020 election and openly mocked them in private, while allowing They thrive in the air. Dominion sued Fox for airing unsubstantiated claims of vote-switching that Trump allies alleged.
Murdoch saw little evidence of Trump's claims and found some to be "baloney ... and damaging." In an email, he suggested that Trump could become a "sore loser." Murdoch also acknowledged in his testimony that some Fox News hosts, including Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, had done more than simply provide a platform for unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud, saying in a statement that they "endorsed" the affirmations. In emails after the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill, Murdoch said that Fox News wanted to "make Trump a non-person" and that he was "turning around as fast as possible."
“We have to guide our viewers, which is not as easy as it might seem,” he added, according to the presentation.
Fox News has defended its coverage, calling Dominion's lawsuit “unfounded.”
"Read the statements," Bannon said. "They have fear, hate and contempt for you."
Bannon also criticized the cable network for pre-empting Arizona electoral votes for Democrat Joe Biden on election night in 2020 and for not closely covering his 2024 campaign.
"They don't even cover it live for 20 minutes," Bannon said of Trump. announcement speech in November. "And then they say, 'If there's something newsworthy, we'll cut it down,' and they go to a panel and debate. Note to Fox senior management: When Donald J. Trump speaks, he's newsworthy."
Throughout the past week, Trump has dedicated himself to criticizing the leadership of Fox News on his platform Truth Social, destination that Murdoch was "throwing his anchors under the table, which is also killing his case and enraging his viewers, who will again be leaving en masse, they are already doing so" and demanding that Murdoch "apologize to his viewers and readers for his ridiculous defense of the 2020 presidential election.”
Trump continues to insist that the election was "EQUIPPED!" 2020 Election Reviews, including via count by hand and risk limitation auditshave validated the election results in swing states and Trump's efforts to overturn the election result were thrown of the court on dozens of occasions.
“If Rupert Murdoch sincerely believes that the 2020 presidential election, despite the HUGE amount of evidence to the contrary, was not rigged and stolen, then he and his MAGA Hating Globalist RINOS group should get out of the news business ASAP. possible. because they are aiding and abetting the DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA with FAKE NEWS”, Trump wrote. “Certain BRAVE AND PATRIOTIC FoxNews hosts whom he despises and ridicules got it right. She was wrong. THEY SHOULD BE ADMIRED AND PRAISED, NOT REPRESENTED OR ABANDONED!!!"
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
