President Donald Trump still refuses to concede the 2020 election, and he fully intends to contest the results. Lawsuits have been leveled and investigations have begun.
But if Trump does in fact lose to Joe Biden, Donald may have an ambitious new goal in mind — it seems he wants to take on one of the biggest mainstream media outlets in the country.
And Fox News should probably take notice.
For much of Trump’s tenure as President, Fox often appeared to be his ally. Trump supporters flocked to Fox News and shunned the likes of CNN, MSNBC, and other perceived left-leaning sources.
But Trump’s fan base hasn’t been happy with Fox since election day.
And apparently, the President isn’t happy, either. That’s why he’s reportedly revealed his intentions to take down the massive Fox Network, according to multiple sources.
From Axios:
President Donald Trump reportedly ‘plans to wreck Fox’ News by launching his own digital media channel.
Trump was angered after the network called Arizona for President-elect Joe Biden with just 73% of votes counted – and he made it known publicly.
The president’s aim in launching a media channel would be ‘to clobber Fox News and undermine’ the network.
This doesn’t mean the President wants to launch his own cable channel; it would likely be too timely and expensive to consider.
However, Trump is evidently considering an online streaming media channel. It would charge viewers a monthly fee to watch content, much like other news streaming services.
The source in question claims Donald will “spend a lot of time slamming Fox.”
While this could put some strain on Fox and other news outlets in the long run, given Trump’s resources and followers, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch isn’t too concerned:
‘We love competition,’ Murdoch said.
‘We have always thrived with competition. … Fox News has been the number one network, including broadcast networks, … from Labor Day through to Election Day.’
If Trump does attempt a streaming service of his own, he’ll be in direct competition with Fox News’ streaming service.
Fox Nation is a streaming direct-to-consumer option that’s already in its second year. Presumably, though, Trump’s service will aim to steal subscribers away.
Trump has been vocal about Fox recently, too:
.@FoxNews daytime ratings have completely collapsed. Weekend daytime even WORSE. Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot the Golden Goose. The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2020
It remains to be seen if enough Trump fans are willing to pay a monthly fee, but their dislike of Fox and other media outlets is well-documented.
Many have expressed displeasure with the way Fox News handled the 2020 election as well, so that could provide more incentive for fans of the President to abandon most mainstream sources.
Source: Axios