Trump blames Fox News for GOP midterm losses as network hosts defend coverage

President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on election night to accuse Fox News of bearing responsibility for the Republican Party's midterm defeats, claiming the network "constantly and consistently puts on the Dumocrat opposition, and worse." Shortly after, he called Fox anchors to congratulate Democrats and expressed surprise at the outcomes.

During the call, Trump briefly criticized Fox's polling unit as "terrible," prompting anchor Bret Baier to note that the network's polls had been close to the actual results. Other Fox hosts, including Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, discussed the role of the Iran conflict and other policy issues, with Hannity defending the decision to go to war and Ingraham describing the war as a factor in voter dissatisfaction.

Radio host Buck Sexton wrote on X that the Republican Party deserved the loss, citing poor messaging and costly policies, but did not directly name Trump. Fox commentators generally avoided blaming the president directly, instead linking the losses to broader issues such as high gas prices and broken promises.

Trump also targeted liberal commentator Jessica Tarlov, calling her "dumb as a rock," and sent a rebuttal to co-host Greg Gutfeld that was read on air. Tarlov responded on X, suggesting Trump should improve his handling of reality.

Later, Trump complained about Fox's ratings decline, attributing it to the network's coverage of Democrats rather than to his own approval ratings, which analysts say remain near historic lows. Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch has attributed the ratings dip to viewer fatigue.

The exchange highlighted the uneasy relationship between Trump and the network that both relies on for a Republican audience and critiques for its coverage of the election results.