(PM.) Fox News made good on rumors they would keep Trump surrogates out of the post debate “spin room” on Wednesday night. After Trump announced that not only would he not be appearing on the Milwaukee stage to duke it out with the long shots of the GOP primary, Fox said that his surrogates would not be admitted to the debate without obtaining alternate credentialling.
Then they banned those surrogates from the post-debate “spin room,” where ideas and topics would be discussed, and pundits would give their opinion on who won the debate. Those who were kept out included Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr, and his fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Don Jr had harsh words for Fox News, saying they were “right now trying to ban people from actually having discourse about politics. Probably shouldn’t surprise any of us. But that’s what it is.” He said that he’d been told he could go in, and that security then told him he’s not allowed.
“The candidates that they’ve been boosting while simultaneously trying to cut down Trump for what, the last two years? Didn’t perform as they had hoped, so they can’t have someone who can maybe be a representative of my father.” Ron DeSantis, who has been a big favorite in corporate media, performed far less well that his supporters would have hoped. Vivek Ramaswamy, on the other hand, fared far better than was expected.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green also stated that she was barred from the spin room, along with Congressman Matt Gaetz.
“They just blocked us out,” she said on RSBN. “They would not allow myself Matt Gaetz and the other Trump surrogates to go into the spin room. We argued with them. Talked to them. We showed the current current credentials, we had spin room credentials, and they would not let us in. So this is censorship from Fox News. This is censorship, not allowing surrogates for President Trump to go into the spin room. but I think the American people know the truth. they know exactly who they’re supporting for president because they’re showing it in the polls over and over again. he’s winning over 60%.”
Fox apparently took issue with Trump and his campaign after he not only declined to grace the debate stage with his presence, where his absence was keenly felt, but participated in an interview with ousted Fox New celeb host Tucker Carlson to air on X at the very same time as the debates.
That interview, lasting 44 minutes and dropping onto social media at the exact moment when Fox was hoping to capture that viewership for their own, racked up over 1 million views while the debate was still running.
