Donald Trump gave Fox News a make-up interview Thursday morning after the outlet took a pass on carrying his Wednesday night rally in Eerie, PA. See, Trump's been downgraded at Fox, mostly because even Fox viewers just aren't that into him anymore. Politico writes:
As he’s ramped up his rally schedule ahead of the midterms, viewership numbers for the raucous prime-time events have been roughly similar to — sometimes dipping below — Fox News’ regular programming, and the network has recently stopped airing most evening events in full.
When Trump held a rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa, earlier this week, pretty much no one carried him live—even C-Span yanked coverage for more pressing news.
On one hand, it’s pretty hilarious. More than anything, Trump’s insatiably deflated ego absolutely craves the attention. On the other hand, it’s a serious problem for Republicans. The diminished prime-time coverage puts a dent in the uninterrupted megaphone Fox News used to provide to Trump, which in turn puts a dent in GOP fundraising.
“It exposes us to a national audience that we normally don’t get to,” a Senate Republican campaign staffer told Politico. “We tend to see lots of new sign-ups and small-dollar donations."
White House officials, led by communications director and former Fox News executive Bill Shine are promising "to look into" the change.
But it comes down to a matter of hard numbers and how many millions of viewers Trump draws versus the draw of Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson. And Trump just isn't that big a draw anymore, especially when he's doing several rallies a week.