Inside Trump's blow-up at Fox News over El-Sayed coverage

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."

Read it at Axios ↗

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