Perfectly normal response from a perfectly normal man
Donald Trump is used to getting what he wants. From the moment he entered this earth with a silver spoon in his mouth, Trump has had most things handed to him. His businesses, his wealth – the vast majority of this was handed down to him from his father; a man who was actually a successful property developer.
He even got the presidency, though some may say that he never really wanted that. But he wants it now, because above all else Trump wants, perhaps even needs, to win.
Due to this desire to be viewed as victorious in all of his interactions in life, Trump is not taking the ongoing presidential election very well. His Twitter account has been awash with legal threats and bizarre statements from the moment that results poured in suggesting that his opponent Joe Biden would be victorious.
We still don’t know if Biden will be victorious, and Trump may well end up in the White House for another four years, but that hasn’t stopped the US president from getting furious, regularly over the past 36 hours. And according to multiple reports from across the pond, one incident in particular sent his anger into overdrive.
The incident in question was the decision by Fox News to call the state of Arizona for Biden, long before any other outlet had done the same. The network has been accused of running wall-to-wall fake news during the Trump presidency and acting as a de-facto propaganda outlet for the POTUS, but come election time its decision desk is strictly independent.
Due to this, their overall allegiance to Trump was disregarded in favour of the truth, and so they called Arizona – a state with 11 electoral college votes – to his opponent.
Source confirms to me that Jared Kushner was in contact w/Rupert Murdoch after Fox News called Arizona for Biden, a call that infuriated the Trump camp. @Acosta additionally reports @kellyannepolls & other advisers were calling Fox personalities to complain. A full court press.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) November 5, 2020
Such was the White House’s anger at this decision that Trump himself rang Fox owner Rupert Murdoch to complain about the decision, and demanded an immediate retraction. This was followed by calls from his son-in-law and fellow failson Jared Kushner, as well as Trump loyalist Kelly-Anne Conway.
Murdoch, being the person that he is, refused to retract the call. And it stood. In the aftermath of this drama, the Associated Press followed suit and called Arizona for Biden.
While this news will likely not change anyone’s opinion of Trump – those seem to be fairly set in stone after four years of his presidency – it does shed a light on how he views the world; expecting undying loyalty from those in his circle, and having absolutely no regard for the concept of a free press.
