Livid Trump Says He’s Done With Fox News: ‘Looking For A New Outlet!’
President Donald Trump says he’s had it with Fox News after host Neil Cavuto criticized him for taking the drug hydroxychloroquine to prevent becoming infected with the coronavirus.
The anti-malaria drug has not been approved for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, but it has become a favorite talking-point in conservative media.
Trump on Monday claimed he has been taking it after at least two people in the White House were diagnosed with the coronavirus infection.
But Cavuto warned viewers not to emulate the president.
“If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus ... it will kill you,” Cavuto said. “I cannot stress this enough: This will kill you.”
While many Fox News hosts routinely lavish praise on the president ― and host Laura Ingraham has been one of the biggest media proponents of taking hydroxychloroquine ― the comments from Cavuto set Trump off.
He claimed on Twitter that he was ready to change the channel:
.@FoxNews is no longer the same. We miss the great Roger Ailes. You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before. Looking for a new outlet! https://t.co/jXxsF0flUM
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020
Trump’s comments also included praise for Roger Ailes, the late Fox News CEO who left the network after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment.
Despite that history, Ailes served as an adviser to Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump’s anger at the network drew a sharp response from his critics:
Democratically elected presidents don't "look for a new outlet," they don't run propaganda machines. The press in this country is supposed to be free & independent & no more a tool of the presidency that the Justice Department is supposed to be.
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) May 19, 2020
If you look on the back of your prescription bottle it should list which cable news hosts are trustworthy.
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) May 19, 2020
So, every media outlet now, including Fox News, is "anti-#Trump? Maybe they've all just become anti-stupidity, anti-lying, anti-incompetence, anti-failure, anti-danger, anti-sickness, anti-death, anti-sociopath, anti-criminal, anti-traitor?
— Andy Ostroy (@AndyOstroy) May 19, 2020
Omg you really must be on hydroxychloroquine and adderall and chicken McNuggets and Clorox. #Cavuto was trying to help you, you #morbidlyobese, genocidal gaslighting ghoul.
— Lesley Abravanel🆘 (@lesleyabravanel) May 19, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.