
President Donald Trump responded to Shepard Smith’s unexpected Friday afternoon resignation from Fox News in much the same manner he’d responded to former Utah Rep. Mia Love’s tragic defeat in the 2018 midterm elections.
“Is he leaving? Oh, that’s a shame,” he said dismissively when asked by the media outside the White House specifically about whether his administration had engineered Smith’s sudden resignation. For clarification, there is no indication that President Trump, the Trump administration, or anyone connected to the president had anything to do with Smith’s decision to leave the news network.
After Love lost her reelection battle last year, Trump responded just as dismissively, saying, “Mia Love gave me no love and she lost … too bad. Sorry about that, Mia.”
“Wait, did I hear Shepard Smith is leaving?” he continued on Thursday. “Is he leaving because of bad ratings? Tell me, I don’t know. He had terrible ratings.”
“Is he leaving because of his ratings? I mean, if he’s leaving, I assume he’s leaving because he had bad ratings. He had the worst ratings on Fox, so there’s a reason. Why is Shepard Smith leaving? Well, I wish him well. I wish Shepard Smith well.”
Listen:
(Source: Fox Business Network)
The disdain the president clearly feels for Smith is shared among a wide swath of conservatives in part because of the now-resigned FNC host’s smug, condescending attitude, and his propensity to propagate mainstream media lies.
Trump’s remarks on Friday weren’t the first time he’d taken direct or indirect shots at Smith, nor would they likely be his last.
In fact, the president doubled down in a tweet late Friday evening:
Is he leaving due to bad ratings, or some other less important reason? https://t.co/XBr7xVgarc
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2019
Now flashback to late August, when he took dual shots at both FNC host Judge Andrew Napolitano and his “good ‘pal’ of low ratings,” i.e., Smith:
Thank you to brilliant and highly respected attorney Alan Dershowitz for destroying the very dumb legal argument of “Judge” Andrew Napolitano….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2019
….Ever since Andrew came to my office to ask that I appoint him to the U.S. Supreme Court, and I said NO, he has been very hostile! Also asked for pardon for his friend. A good “pal” of low ratings Shepard Smith.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2019
Earlier in August, he slammed Smith as the host of “the lowest rated show” at Fox and wrote that he preferred watching “Fake News CNN” to him:
Watching Fake News CNN is better than watching Shepard Smith, the lowest rated show on @FoxNews. Actually, whenever possible, I turn to @OANN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2019
The “lowest rated show” refrain is one that he’s used often, including following Democrat cheat Donna Brazile’s stunning hiring earlier this year:
Impossible to believe that @FoxNews has hired @donnabrazile, the person fired by @CNN (after they tried to hide the bad facts, & failed) for giving Crooked Hillary Clinton the questions to a debate, something unimaginable. Now she is all over Fox, including Shep Smith, by far….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2019
….their lowest rated show. Watch the @FoxNews weekend daytime anchors, who are terrible, go after her big time. That’s what they want – but it sure is not what the audience wants!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2019
The only exception appears to be in March when he switched up his wording slightly and referred to Smith as Fox’s “lowest rated anchor”:
Were @FoxNews weekend anchors, @ArthelNeville and @LelandVittert, trained by CNN prior to their ratings collapse? In any event, that’s where they should be working, along with their lowest rated anchor, Shepard Smith!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019
To be fair, the attacks have been two-sided. After the whistleblower non-scandal erupted late last month, Smith blatantly attacked the president by outright lying about what he’d said during his infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
And during the president’s spat with the Democrat’s radical anti-American freshman “squad” in July, Smith labeled the president’s criticism of the radical Democrats as “xenophobic.”
Now, while it’s clear the president never liked Smith, he has shown great affection toward plenty of other FNC hosts and personalities.
Speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa on Tuesday, for instance, he listed all his “great friends” at Fox while speaking about his nickname for the Democrats.
“Now the Democrats, or as some people would say ‘the dims,'” he began. “‘The dims,’ who says that? Lou Dobbs, the great Lou Dobbs, he says that, right? Sean Hannity says that. ‘The dims.’ Sean Hannity. Judge Jeanine [Pirro] says that, doesn’t she?”
“Laura [Ingraham]. Laura, how good has Laura been, right? We got a lot of good people. Do we like Tucker [Carlson]? I like Tucker. How about Steve Doocey, how about Ainsley [Earhardt], Brian [Kilmeade]? We got a lot of great friends.”
Listen:
Smith clearly didn’t make the list. Nor did Napolitano, Brazile, Chris Wallace, Juan Williams, Chris Hahn or any other FNC contributor who’s a registered Democrat.
Nor did any of them make the list he read off during a rally Thursday in Louisiana:
A list of Fox hosts Trump has praised tonight:
Jesse Waters
Steve Doocy
Ainsley Earhardt
Tucker Carlson
Brian Kilmeade
Tucker Carlson
Lou Dobbs
Sean Hannity
Laura Ingraham
Maria Bartiromo
Greg Gutfeld
Jeannine Pirro— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) October 11, 2019
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