Inside Trump's blow-up at Fox News over El-Sayed coverage
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Republicans have spent months griping privately to Fox News about coverage they argue is helping Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan's Democratic nominee for Senate, moderate his image. The frustration boiled into public view Tuesday when President Trump lashed out at his favorite network.
Why it matters: Republicans worry that Fox is undercutting their efforts to brand the charismatic El-Sayed as a liberal who's far outside the mainstream.
- Polls show El-Sayed, a critic of Israel's government who'd be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, in a tight race against former Rep. Mike Rogers (R).
Behind the scenes: White House officials reached out to Fox on Tuesday to complain about anchor Martha MacCallum's interview with El-Sayed, according to people familiar with the conversations. On Truth Social, Trump blasted the interview as "softball."
- "Fox is promoting the Dumocrats, not the Republicans and MAGA. They have totally lost their way!" he wrote.
The White House's frustration over Fox's coverage of El-Sayed had been bubbling for weeks before Trump's post.
- Senior GOP operatives repeatedly contacted Fox producers and executives in early August, warning that El-Sayed could use favorable commentary from host Jesse Watters to cast himself as moderate.
- After El-Sayed's upset primary win over an establishment-backed candidate, Watters said: "You gotta respect Abdul because he beat the [Democratic] machine."
Later that month, El-Sayed released a TV ad featuring Watters' remark. His campaign called Watters an "unlikely validator."
- Republicans were reassured when Watters pressed El-Sayed on his criticism of ICE, support for Medicare for All and opinion on Sharia law during an Aug. 24 interview — only to be frustrated again when Watters said the next day: "I actually like Abdul. I probably shouldn't like him, but I do."
State of play: Fox News has become a significant part of El-Sayed's effort to reach voters beyond the Democratic base.
- From Oct. 1 to 6, El-Sayed campaign ads aired 129 times on Fox News — roughly twice as often as they did on ESPN, according to ad-tracking data.
- Michigan-based GOP strategist Dennis Lennox told Axios: "It's not just that he is doing interviews with Fox. It's that he is on Fox every commercial break."
Between the lines: Republicans acknowledge El-Sayed has shown he can hold his own under tough questioning — even when pressed on issues the GOP is using against him.
- El-Sayed said during Monday's interview with MacCallum: "I am going to have conversations with all kinds of folks."
According to Fox, Watters' interview with El-Sayed in August drew nearly 3.4 million viewers, making it the highest-rated cable news primetime telecast of the month.
- Michigan-based GOP strategist Jason Roe told Axios: "They are doing him a favor. It's only helping him reach center-right voters. But they are in business to make money, and he attracts eyeballs."
The other side: A Fox News spokesperson said Rogers also was invited to be interviewed on Watters' show but didn't respond.
- The White House didn't respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Jay Wallace, Fox News Media president and executive editor, told Axios on Tuesday that MacCallum's interview of El-Sayed reflected the network's willingness to air programming its core audience may not want to hear.
- "Someone didn't necessarily like that," Wallace said, apparently referring to Trump. "But that's what we do."
