On Monday, former President Donald Trump expressed his dissatisfaction with Fox News host Laura Ingraham after she presented a series of polls indicating that he performed worse than Florida Governor Ron DeSantis against President Joe Biden in various states. During a segment on The Ingraham Angle, Ingraham showcased polls that showed Trump trailing behind Biden in Georgia and Arizona, leading to a discussion with Chris Bedford, the Executive Editor of Common Sense Society.
According to Mediaite, Bedford acknowledged that early polls suggested Trump was lagging behind Biden, whereas generic Republican candidates, including figures like Tim Scott or Ron DeSantis, fared better against the incumbent president. Ingraham highlighted a poll indicating DeSantis holding 47 percent against Biden’s 43 percent in Arizona, clarifying that it was just one poll based on 500 voters.
Donald Trump, in almost all the polls that we’ve seen that have been done so far, granted it’s early, is behind Joe Biden,” said Bedford. “Now Joe Biden is running pretty badly against generic Republicans, maybe against a Tim Scott or against a Ron DeSantis type figure, but he’s consistently beating Donald Trump.”
Trump, however, swiftly reacted to the segment, taking to Truth Social to criticize Ingraham and accuse her of conducting a “hit piece” against him. He suggested that her ratings would suffer as a result and argued that polls actually demonstrated his superior performance against Biden compared to DeSantis. Trump pointed to another poll on Fox News that indicated he was “doing far better against Crooked Joe.”
You’re right; it’s just one poll,” responded Bedford. “But it is a broader trend, and matchups between X Republican and Joe Biden, X Republican usually wins, except for when it’s Donald Trump
The former president concluded his post by diverting attention to Greg Kelly’s show on Newsmax, urging his followers to watch it instead of Ingraham’s program, which aired in the same time slot.
Although DeSantis has not officially entered the 2024 Republican primary, he is widely regarded as the second-most popular Republican after Trump in most polls. Speculation suggests he will announce his presidential campaign in the coming week.
This recent incident follows Trump’s previous criticism of Fox News, claiming the network was actively promoting DeSantis and dubbing it the “DeSanctimonious Network.” Trump expressed his disappointment with Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post, accusing them of being aligned with globalist interests and asserting that DeSantis’ popularity was declining.
