Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Sean Hannity begged Donald Trump to stop attacking Fox News in a phone call just weeks before it settled a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems in 2023, according to a new book.
In early 2023, Trump decried “collusion” between “MAGA hating” Fox News and his then-chief political rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a run of ruthless attacks against the network and its chairman Rupert Murdoch.
Ahead of the March 18 release of Alex Isenstadt’s book, Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, the Axios journalist explains how Hannity, the network’s premier host and close Trump confidant, called on the Republican to end his tirade against the conservative network in March 2023.
“Please do not hit Fox, do not hit the Murdoch family. Just please, for the love of God, please don’t do it,” Hannity said, according to an excerpt of Isenstadt’s book obtained by the Washington Post.
“Mr. President, I’m trying to help you out here with the Fox people here. But you’re not making it easy for me by going after the Murdochs. You’re not helping me. You’re not helping yourself. If you can just lay off, we can start making some moves and getting back to normal.”
Holding up his phone so his staffers could hear, Trump reportedly replied: “Sean is trying to do the right thing. But, man, the Murdochs? I don’t know.”
“Susie, are you in the room?,” Hannity asked, referring to Susie Wiles, Trump’s then-campaign manager. “Susie, can you talk to the president? For the love of God, can you talk to the president?”
According to a Fox News spokesperson, Wiles responded: “Well, Sean, President Trump is going to do what President Trump thinks is best and fair.”
Hannity said that he could not recall speaking to Wiles during the conversation.
Trump then called Hannity a “good man” and put down the phone, per the excerpt.
Despite taking several jabs at Fox News on the 2024 presidential campaign trail over its polling and announcement of an interview with his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, the president has rarely clashed with the Murdoch-owned network since entering politics.
However, in the spring of 2023, a simmering feud between Trump and Fox News reached a boiling point.
Trump capitalized on revelations in the defamation lawsuit filed against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems, which sued the network for $1.6 billion over claims made during its coverage of the 2020 election. In April 2023, Fox struck a $787.5 million deal with the voting machine company.
There were media reports throughout the early 2024-election cycle that Fox News bosses were seeking to ditch Trump.
In late 2022, multiple Fox News pundits began throwing their support behind DeSantis after his landslide reelection victory at the 2022 mid-terms – a largely disappointing election for the Republicans, with many of Trump’s hand-picked candidates struggling to win key races.
“Trump is the past,” said Fox Business host Stuart Varney on November 10, 2022, while Fox News Digital headlines called Trump the “biggest loser” and hailed DeSantis as “the new Republican Party leader.”
In late February, DeSantis’ book The Courage to Be Free was heavily promoted and saw the governor make at least five live appearances on the network, according to a tally at the time by Media Matters for America.
Meanwhile, in the same period, Trump had a roughly six-month hiatus from appearing on the network in what his campaign referred to at the time as a “soft ban.”
Murdoch also acknowledged that his network hosts had “endorsed” some of Trump’s baseless claims about the 2020 election being stolen by Joe Biden.
“Why is Rupert Murdoch throwing his anchors under the table, which also happens to be killing his case and infuriating his viewers, who will again be leaving in droves — they already are,” Trump posted on Truth Social on February 28, 2023.
Trump told the media magnate that if he did not believe the 2020 election was “rigged” he should “get out of the News Business as soon as possible, because they are aiding & abetting the DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA with FAKE NEWS.”
Murdoch’s resignation as the chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp in September 2023 provided Trump and the network a refresh.
“Rupert Murdoch is in a class by himself, he’s an amazing guy,” Trump said of the conservative in the Oval Office last month.
