Report: William Barr, Rupert Murdoch Meet Privately as Trump Sours on Fox News

Attorney General William Barr and media mogul Rupert Murdoch met privately in New York City on Wednesday evening as President Donald Trump ratchets up his attacks on the Fox News Channel, according to the New York Times.

The details of their discussion are unknown, as press representatives for the Trump official and chairman of the Fox Corporation refused to comment to the Times.

The report comes hours after President Trump ripped into Fox News, owned by Murdoch, for conducting a poll that found a recond 51 percent of voters support his impeachment and removal from office. The president also took aim at several of the network’s anti-Trump personalities, including legal analyst Andrew Napolitano and daytime anchor Shepard Smith.

The president wrote on Twitter:

From the day I announced I was running for President, I have NEVER had a good @FoxNews Poll. Whoever their Pollster is, they suck. But @FoxNews is also much different than it used to be in the good old days. With people like Andrew Napolitano, who wanted to be a Supreme Court Justice & I turned him down (he’s been terrible ever since), Shep Smith, @donnabrazile (who gave Crooked Hillary the debate questions & got fired from @CNN), & others, @FoxNews doesn’t deliver for US anymore. It is so different than it used to be.

“Oh well, I’m President!” he added.

…Court Justice & I turned him down (he’s been terrible ever since), Shep Smith, @donnabrazile (who gave Crooked Hillary the debate questions & got fired from @CNN), & others, @FoxNews doesn’t deliver for US anymore. It is so different than it used to be. Oh well, I’m President!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2019

The poll comes as House Democrats move swiftly with an impeachment inquiry against President Trump that was launched in the wake of a partisan CIA officer’s so-called “whistleblower” complaint claiming the president pressured the leader of Ukraine to look into allegations of corruption against former vice president and 2020 candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vehemently deny any pressure was applied to look into the Biden family. To underscore no wrongdoing occurred, the White House released a transcript of the July 25th telephone call.

President Trump’s Thursday tweets are not the first time he’s criticized Fox News in recent months. In August, the president blasted the network for letting “millions” of Americans down by allowing Democrat panelists and guests to push their talking points unchallenged.

“We have to start looking for a new News Outlet. Fox isn’t working for us anymore!” he tweeted.

“Just watched Fox News heavily promoting the Democrats through their DNC Communications Director, spewing out whatever she wanted with zero pushback by anchor, Sandra Smith,” he added.