President Donald Trump blamed Fox News for Republican losses in the House and Senate during Tuesday's midterm elections, according to The Guardian, after spending the day criticizing the network's polls and coverage in Truth Social posts. He accused Fox of featuring Democratic pundit Jessica Tarlov, called its polls the worst and said the network was against him.
Just before midnight, Trump wrote that Fox News bears responsibility for the losses, according to the Guardian. He then called into the network's election coverage and told its employees to get a good pollster, saying their pollsters were the worst. Anchor Bret Baier pushed back gently, noting the night's results were close to what Fox's polls showed.
Over more than six and a half hours of election night coverage, Fox commentators appeared to take pains not to directly tie the party's losses to Trump, according to the Guardian, and none suggested the party should back away from him. Several instead faulted voters for being impatient and wanting instant gratification, as host Jesse Watters put it, and said the president's party historically performs poorly in midterms.
The only significant criticism of the president focused on the White House's messaging strategy and his decision to go to war in Iran. Fox Business host Larry Kudlow said Trump was too successful in the first year and did not sell it enough in the second. Commentators noted voter unhappiness with the war and rising gas prices, and Sean Hannity agreed the outcome might have differed had Trump not bombed Iran.