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Donald Trump<\/span><\/a> has spent his political life treating the press as a prop. Friendly outlets are the audience he performs for, while hostile ones are the villains he performs against. But the president has never had to confront a prop that has stopped cooperating. It\u2019s why he has spent several days raging at nearly every corner of the media, including the one network he has <\/span>long treated as his own<\/span><\/a>. Increasingly obsessed with controlling the image of his political decline rather than reckoning with reality, Trump has set out on a campaign of intimidation as his usual spectacle starts to <\/span>finally fizzle out<\/span><\/a> following more than a decade of domination. But browbeating Fox News and continuing to sideline CNN and POLITICO cannot conceal what is there in plain sight: shrinking crowds and falling poll numbers.<\/span><\/p>\n Over a whirlwind weekend of rallies across Alabama, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas, the cracks in the MAGA facade became impossible to ignore. Trump has always treated crowd size at his rallies as a proxy for legitimacy and domination. In his eyes, the image of an overflowing arena functions as proof that the country loves him, that the media lies about him and that his political project remains invincible. This is why the sight of <\/span>empty seats in high school gymnasiums<\/span><\/a> and muted cable coverage that tell a less flattering story <\/span>cuts so deeply<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIn actuality, my Events for very good Republican Politicians are probably more crowded than ever. There are no empty seats, there haven\u2019t been for years, and there never will be. The Rallies are \u2018HOTTER\u2019 than ever,\u201d he <\/span>wrote<\/span><\/a> on Truth Social Monday, demanding that \u201cThe New York Times, and many other Artificial Media Outlets, should be arrested for their dishonesty.\u201d The president was referencing a Times report that during an event on Friday, <\/span>Trump\u2019s venue on the campus of the University of South Alabama was not full and that <\/span>Trump\u2019s midterm campaign swing feels \u201cmore like a farewell tour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n But the day before, Trump had turned his fire on a less obvious target.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSad to see that Fox & Friends (Sunday) is not covering our packed house and incredibly enthusiastic (beyond!) Rally that took place in Ohio last night, or the ones in Alabama, Texas, or Oklahoma over the past two days,\u201d he <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a> on Truth Social Sunday morning. The rallies were \u201cabsolutely phenomenal, better than ever,\u201d he insisted. \u201cOur people want to see our Rallies, and reports on our Rallies, on FoxNews, or they will very quickly stop watching (like I am doing right now!).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n It was the second time in five days Trump had attacked the conservative media powerhouse by name, and this time he brought a hit list. He accused Fox of forcing Democrats down MAGA\u2019s throats and demanded to know who fired \u201cthe great Maria Bartiromo,\u201d the ex-host who reportedly <\/span>shared internal network communications with the administration<\/span><\/a>. \u201cWho makes these decisions at FoxNews?\u201d Trump asked, before demanding the network cover his \u201chappenings\u201d or soon have the ratings of \u201cFAKE NEWS CNN or MSNOW,\u201d because \u201cFox tried this act once before, and almost went out of business (and always right before an election!). That can happen again!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But Fox had already covered the Ohio rally before Trump posted his tirade. A Snapstream search found that \u201cFox and Friends Weekend\u201d aired a segment on his event supporting Senate hopeful Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy in Vandalia shortly before Trump\u2019s post, focusing on his data center comments. Significantly, though, the network\u2019s pattern across the four-state swing shows that hosts tease the president\u2019s speeches, throw to a live correspondent report, but rarely air the rally live. While Fox didn\u2019t air Trump\u2019s Ohio speech live, it ran a report at the top of the hour and showed Ramaswamy warming up the crowd. The network did the same in Alabama on Friday, and in North Carolina last month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Want more sharp takes on politics? Sign up for our free newsletter<\/a>, Standing Room Only,<\/em> written by Amanda Marcotte, now also a weekly show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n There are exceptions. Sean Hannity cut into his show on Thursday and aired 36 uninterrupted minutes from Oklahoma. But the usual approach is no secret \u2014 and <\/span>it didn\u2019t start this weekend<\/span><\/a>. Tellingly, after Trump\u2019s attacks, Fox opened \u201cThe Five\u201d and \u201cThe Will Cain Show\u201d on Monday with rally clips.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The president has been escalating his rhetoric against the network for months. In April, he <\/span>told Fox executives<\/span><\/a> to \u201ctake Jessica Tarlov off the air.\u201d He has also gone after hosts Bret Baier and Shannon Bream, complaining that the latter failed to challenge a Democratic congressman on her Sunday program. As CNN\u2019s Brian Stelter <\/span>noted<\/span><\/a>, Fox has calculated that Trump\u2019s rallies \u2014 which are long, repetitive and rarely produce news \u2014 are \u201cnot a ratings magnet right now.\u201d The Republican National Committee\u2019s midterm convention in Texas apparently was not either, meriting just one segment on \u201cThe Five\u201d per day; most speakers were never shown on the network. Ironically, the unprecedented spectacle resulted in a <\/span>rare reverse bounce<\/span><\/a> that left Trump\u2019s net approval declining and the Democrats\u2019 advantage on the generic ballot increasing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Trump\u2019s media strategy depends on collapsing every unfavorable fact into the same category: enemy propaganda.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When CNN\u2019s Kristen Holmes asked Trump about the NBC News\/Telemundo <\/span>poll<\/span><\/a> that found his approval with Latino voters at just 27% on Monday, he cut her off, \u201cYou\u2019re fake news! You\u2019re CNN. You\u2019re fake news. My poll numbers are great, and all you have to do is look at the crowds we\u2019re drawing.\u201d Days before, he delivered a characteristically crude address that <\/span>singled out CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins <\/span><\/a>in front of a hostile crowd, eliciting angry boos and vicious chants. Trump\u2019s media strategy depends on collapsing every unfavorable fact into the same category: enemy propaganda.<\/span><\/p>\n The administration\u2019s treatment of CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO made that purpose impossible for <\/span>even the White House press corps to ignore<\/span><\/a>. On Monday, the White House barred POLITICO from traveling aboard Air Force One, preventing the outlet from fulfilling its role in the presidential press pool, having been scheduled to serve as the print representative. Trump has already kicked CNN out of the television pool on the plane, replacing it with friendly outlets including LindellTV and Real America\u2019s Voice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The legal fight over that control comes to a head Thursday, when Trump-appointed federal Judge Timothy J. Kelly is scheduled to hear arguments on whether to extend the block on the president\u2019s ban of CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House. Last month, Kelly issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to restore the outlets\u2019 credentials, rejecting, at least at that stage, the administration\u2019s national security rationale for yanking access.<\/span><\/p>\n The Justice Department nevertheless asked the court late Friday to permit the ban\u2019s reinstatement, suggesting in the government\u2019s filing that \u201cbona fide journalists would identify sources instead of relying on anonymous sources.\u201d This reasoning is especially rich, coming from a White House that routinely briefs reporters on background, requiring them to grant anonymity under its own ground rules. One \u201creporting incident\u201d cited against POLITICO was a June story quoting a \u201csenior administration official\u201d \u2014\u00a0exactly the arrangement the White House demanded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n From the courtroom to Truth Social, <\/span>Trump\u2019s increasingly unhinged media attacks expose a serious weakness in his political model. He is <\/span>a president with nothing to sell. But <\/span>he needs constant confirmation that his movement is growing. When even Fox News declines to provide uninterrupted validation, the illusion becomes harder to sustain.<\/span><\/p>\n The American public is increasingly seeing through MAGA\u2019s smoke and mirrors. Ultimately, no amount of bullying, executive bans or early morning social media rants can paper over the fact that one month before the midterm <\/span>elections, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee <\/span>added<\/span><\/a> six more candidates to its \u201cRed to Blue\u201d list this week, districts Trump won by an average of 16 points or more in 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n from Sophia Tesfaye on right-wing media<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n