Donald Trump to launch media outlet to fight ‘fake news’
News.com.au
He’s yet to concede the US election, but outgoing President Donald Trump has allegedly planned his next move.
It’s not clear whether the 74-year-old will voluntarily leave the White House or, per the fantasies of some Democrats, barricade himself in the Oval Office and have to be forcibly removed.
But many believe Mr Trump’s first step post-presidency will be to launch a media empire of his own in a bid to bring down the “fake news media” that he’s continuously bemoaned over the course of his administration – and use his army of fans to help him make it happen.
“There’s no reason why he can’t lead the Republican Party and do a media thing of some kind,” former UK Independence Party leader and Trump rally speaker, Nigel Farage, told The Times.
“He’s just got 72 million to vote for him. The enthusiasm for Trumpism is just mega.”
Mr Farage, who spoke at a Trump rally in Arizona last month, said the President’s “biggest success” in the past two decades was television.
I personally believe he’ll launch his own thing,” Mr Farage said.
“If there was a prime time evening show with Donald Trump, the ratings would be off the charts.”
Public relations specialist Mark Borkowski agreed that Mr Trump was in pole position to build some form of media company.
“He’s set up this dialogue about the ‘fake news media’. He could easily set up something that is an extreme Fox (News) and a newspaper group – and he would get the backing to do it.
“Donald Trump has always defied people, but if he’s going to lose his status on Twitter, this man is a fighter. He could raise significant money to create a whole new media universe.”
A report last week from Axios suggested that the President was already working on a plan to build his own digital media channel to “clobber Fox News and undermine the conservative-friendly network”.
The channel would reportedly be launched for online streaming purposes, charging a monthly fee to fans and aiming to “replace” the Fox Nation streaming service.
“He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it,” a source with knowledge of Mr Trump’s intentions told the publication, adding he’ll now “spend a lot of time slamming” the network.
Following his own “train wreck” interview with the President in early August, Axios’national political correspondent, Australian reporter Jonathan Swan remarked that Mr Trump was “obsessed with media”.
“The thing you’ve got to understand about this President is he is obsessed with media and driven by media in a way that, no matter what you read about him, it still doesn’t fully explain about the level of obsession with media,” Swan told ABC’s Radio National Breakfast broadcaster, Fran Kelly.
“He is a media creation. He’s created himself through television, through media.
“He’s obsessed with it. He knows programming, he watches an inordinate amount of television.
“He’s obsessed with ratings. He knows the nuances of different shows, he knows the hosts.
“If you cover him, he is aware of you in an intense way, and particularly if you are not only covering him in print but appearing on television.”
In the lead up to the election, Mr Trump joked that if he lost, he’d leave the US.
“What am I going to do? I’m going to say I lost to the worst candidate in the history of politics,” he said at a rally in Macon, Georgia in October.
“I’m not going to feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country.”
While many laughed off the comments, CNN’s national security analyst Juliette Kayyem argued it wasn’t surprising that a plan to flee the country had crossed Mr Trump’s mind.
“He always says the quiet part out loud – I am sure the thought has crossed his mind as he’s facing both federal and state investigations that he won’t be protected from,” she said.