Fox News Channel took a subtle jab at the New York Times on Thursday: The news organization took out a full-page ad in the paper that quotes the Times referring to “Fox & Friends” as the “most powerful TV show in America.” This occurred amid an on-going beef between the two news organizations.
A Fox News insider told TheWrap that the ad is a direct response to a recent Times column that compared “Fox & Friends” to “Dora the Explorer.” The same column that mocked “Fox & Friends” also praised it, referring to the program as the “most powerful TV show in America” and “easily the most-watched cable news morning show.” Fox News execs took the positive portions and turned it into an ad that ran in the Times as well as other outlets.
“Fox & Friends” even discussed the ad on air Thursday morning.
“This program, the program you are watching, is, according to ‘The New York Times,’ the most powerful TV show in America,” co-host Steve Doocy said.
President Trump even took notice and took to Twitter to chime in on the situation.
Wow, the Failing @nytimes said about @foxandfriends "….the most powerful T.V. show in America."
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2017
The two news organizations had been feuding through a series of statements prior to ad being placed. Fox News accused the Times on Monday of “hyperventilating to the media” after the paper asked the news network for an apology over what the paper deemed a “malicious and inaccurate segment.”
It all started when a recent “Fox & Friends” report argued that an ISIS leader got away because the Times had leaked key information. Gen. Tony Thomas has told reporters that a Times story in 2015 about using certain data to track ISIS fighters resulted in U.S. forces losing the trail to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Thomas mentioned the issue again at the Aspen Security last week and Fox News aired a story on it.
Last weekend, the New York Times emailed “Fox & Friends” to ask for an on-air apology and tweet regarding what a Times spokeswoman called a “malicious and inaccurate segment.”
After the Times asked for an apology, “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy revisited the report on Monday morning, saying the paper says it described a 2015 report to the Pentagon before publication and nobody complained publicly until it was reported on Fox News.
The Times fired back, telling TheWrap, “It wasn’t an apology, nor did it begin to address the larger issues with the ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ segment, one of which was sheer hypocrisy.”
A Fox spokesperson responded with statement to TheWrap: “Neither Fox News’ report nor the subsequent on-air coverage was inaccurate. We find it beyond disappointing that the New York Times, in an attempt to distract from their recent debacle, decided to blame FOX News for comments made publicly by General Thomas during a widely viewed panel at the Aspen Security Forum. It might behoove the Times to actually check in with their reporter Eric Schmitt to see whether Gen. Thomas’ comments have merit and whether Schmitt’s reporting in 2015 revealed intelligence that allowed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to slip away.”
The New York Times spokesperson declined to comment on the ad but an executive from the paper mention it on Thursday morning’s Q2 earnings call for investors.
“They decided to support our journalism with their money,” a Times executive said.
Check it out below:
The ad @POTUS @realDonaldTrump referenced earlier today @foxandfriends pic.twitter.com/CZjeHEYnoQ
— Michael Tammero (@FOXlightMichael) July 27, 2017