Florida Governor Ron DeSantis accused Fox News, as well as other conservative news outlets, of protecting Donald Trump. He made this controversial remark as the U.S. 2024 Presidential Election nears.
Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivers remarks at the 2023 Christians United for Israel summit on July 17, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. For this year's summit, CUFI hosts 2024 Republican presidential candidates hopefuls to speak amidst other pro-Israel activists.
This is surprising since he has embraced Fox News for the past few years. Also, Fox and other conservative news outlets treat the Floridian governor in a good way.
They have been inviting him to friendly and non-challenging interviews. But why did DeSantis criticize Fox News and other conservative media companies?
US 2024 Election: Ron DeSantis Accuses Fox News of Protecting Donald Trump
Ron DeSantis claimed that Fox News and other conservative media outlets are the Praetorian Guard of Donald Trump.
For those who are not familiar with the Praetorian Guard, this is the elite unit of the Imperial Roman Army, which provided personal bodyguards to Roman emperors.
"They just don't - they don't hold him accountable because they're worried about losing viewers and they don't want to have the ratings go down," said DeSantis via Politico's latest report.
"I'm not complaining about it. I'd rather that not be the case, but I think that's just an objective reality," added the Republican presidential candidate.
He shared these statements when he was asked by a journalist outside his campaign headquarters in Des Moines. The reporter asked him whether American voters were influenced by his criticisms against Donald Trump.
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DeSantis Still Embraces Fox News
Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to guests during a campaign rally at the Thunderdome on December 02, 2023 in Newton, Iowa. Iowa Republicans will be the first to select their party's nominee for president when they go to caucus on January 15, 2024.
According to Yahoo Entertainment's latest report, this is not the first time Ron DeSantis criticized Fox News. During the first week of January, the Floridian governor said that the news outlet never criticized the ex-POTUS.
DeSantis claimed that Fox News and other conservative media outlets never questioned Donald Trump because they were afraid that "someone may yell at them."
But, despite his criticisms, DeSantis still embraces Fox News as a 2024 U.S. presidential candidate. This is noticeable as he appeared at a Fox News town hall meeting on Jan. 9.
Aside from this, he was also present on Sean Hannity Thursday night, as well as did an interview with Martha MacCallum on Jan. 12. Ron DeSantis is also expected to appear on the Fox News Sunday interview.
What DeSantis is doing is the same as what Donald Trump is doing. This is because the former president commonly complains about fake news but still accepts invitations from news outlets.
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