Trump hammers Fox News, blaming network for GOP losses as ratings slide

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he departs the White House on the South Lawn on October 10, 2026 in Washington, DC.Aaron Schwartz | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump turned against Fox News on Tuesday night in a string of posts on Truth Social while Democratic wins rolled in during a historic midterm election. Trump blamed the network, which he's long championed, for Republican losses, saying in one post on his social media network that it "bears responsibility for these losses by constantly and consistently putting on the Dumocrat opposition." Democrats took control of both the Senate and House of Representatives, flipping seats in states usually favorable to Republicans, including Texas, South Carolina and Kansas. Trump also pointed to Fox's recent ratings as evidence of the network's decline. "FoxNews Ratings are way down (27%!) because they're spending too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats! All of those people who used to watch Fox, and no longer do, get it. It's them, not me," he posted. Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a press release last week, Fox News reported 1.1 million average viewers for October, down about 27% from the same month a year prior. Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch noted the decline during the company's quarterly earnings call on Monday, citing "viewer fatigue." However, Murdoch said such a shift is expected in the lead-up to a midterm election with a second-term president and said it was not the result of viewers turning to competitors' coverage. "Those viewers are not going to any other news channel. They're not switching to MS NOW or to CNN," he said. "They're just fatigued and watching slightly less television overall."Versant-owned MS NOW and Skydance-owned CNN both reported primetime viewership was up by double digits in October compared with the year-ago period. However, both networks still had smaller total-day average audiences than Fox News. MS NOW had 588,000 average viewers in October across all day parts, and CNN had 402,000, according to Nielsen data cited by Fox. Despite Fox News' year-over-year drop in viewership, the company reported an otherwise strong quarter in what Murdoch called an "outstanding start to fiscal 2027."Fox Corp., which includes the linear TV networks as well as entertainment and sports assets and a streaming business, reported revenue for its fiscal first quarter of $4.57 billion, up 22% year over year. The company pointed to strength in advertising revenue, which increased 47%, buoyed by strong political advertising and the FIFA Men's World Cup, which aired in part on Fox platforms across June and July. Trump is a frequent critic of media companies, especially broadcasters that he views as being biased against him. While he's repeatedly taken aim at NBC and Disney-owned ABC, the president has had a much friendlier relationship with Fox and its networks. Trump appeared on Fox News' "Hannity" on Monday night ahead of the election. Disclosure: CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.