Republican-allied and reliably MAGA Fox News just did the unthinkable. The GOP-aligned network, which critics accuse of being state TV for the Trump administration, cut away from Vice President JD Vance mid-speech.
But that’s not all. Anchor Sandra Smith tossed an embarrassing insult at him as they dropped their coverage of him.
It happened Monday, during a campaign rally in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Khoury Convention Center.
Vance traveled to the battleground state to stump for Republican Senate nominee Michael Whatley, who is trailing Democratic candidate and former Gov. Roy Cooper by double digits.
Vance was pandering to the MAGA crowd, denouncing Cooper and talking up Whatley when Fox suddenly decided to move on.
“The Democrat party is running candidates for Congress, who call for quote …,” a serious Vance told his audience as he tried to project power and strength.
Suddenly Smith interrupted him mid-sentence. “All right you have been listening to Vice President Vance, who is talking to voters ahead of the midterms in battleground North Carolina,” Smith said.
She then shockingly added, “We will bring you right back to this rally if he starts to make news.”
Social media gleefully exploded in, of all things, support for the right-wing news network.
“This is great!” a Threads user proclaimed. Another agreed, “Stone cold. I love this for him.”
This Threads poster summed it up with one word, “Wow.”
Another simply pointed out, “That’s savage and hilarious.”
Fox’s stunning dismissal of Vance and the suggestion Smith made, intentionally or not, that Vance was boring follows President Donald Trump’s White House ban on three news outlets.
Trump announced on Sept. 18 that he was restricting CNN, MS NOW and Politico from covering the White House. By the following day, the access badges for journalists working with those outlets were disabled and no longer worked.
By Monday the three outlets joined together to file a lawsuit against Trump and his clear violation of the U.S. Constitution.
“This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” they said according to The Associated Press.
“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” they added.
And in another show of solidarity, after Trump banned the three, including CNN which is one of five networks who handle TV pool coverage on the president, the others decided to opt out too.
The networks, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC refused to provide replacement crews when it was CNN’s turn to lead the pool. Instead they said the public is entitled to accurate, independent information without illegal government restrictions.
Trump implemented the ban on the three because he said he didn’t like their “negative” coverage of him, a move clearly illegal under the Constitution.
A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Wednesday. Trump, clearly anticipating a legal loss, has already said he plans to appeal.
