Trump says Fox voices helped write his controversial Al Smith remarksIE 11 is not supported. 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It’s a phrase he uses often — about everything from health care to political violence to anti-worker tactics — and in nearly every instance, the Republican ends up causing trouble for himself.In his appearance Friday morning on Fox News, he nevertheless used the line again.“Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy, sitting alongside the former president, praised Trump’s remarks Thursday at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner — better known as the Al Smith Dinner — and asked who helped write some of the funnier lines.“Well, I’ve had a lot of people helping, a lot of people, a couple people from Fox, actually — I shouldn’t say that, but they wrote some jokes,” the GOP candidate said.To be sure, the network soon after contradicted the former president, saying in a statement that "no employee or freelancer" from Fox News wrote jokes for Trump.So, who's telling the truth? The Republican or the network? It's difficult to say with confidence, though if Trump did receive a hand from some "people at Fox," it's a meaningful media controversy.Right off the bat, it’s worth emphasizing that Trump’s appearance at the dinner wasn’t exactly a roaring success. The New York Times published a report that noted, “Mr. Trump rushed through prepared remarks, stumbling at times as he read through pointed political jokes, bitter grievances and crude and at times profane personal attacks.”Not to put too fine a point on this, but when prominent political leaders appear at a dinner to benefit Catholic charities, there’s a general expectation that they’ll avoid “bitter grievances and crude and at times profane personal attacks.”But putting aside the cringeworthy attempts at humor — which elicited some booing — the former president probably realized that he “shouldn’t say” that Fox News voices worked with him because his inadvertent candor helped pull back a curtain that the party and the network prefer to keep closed: Trump made it sound as if some people inside the ostensible news organization are his partners, helping him at the height of the presidential campaign, instead of covering him as detached media professionals.Given Fox’s obvious and yearslong role in Republican politics, Trump’s admission probably won’t surprise anyone, but the relevant players generally try to maintain the pretense and keep up appearances. The former president slipped by accidentally telling the truth.To be sure, in recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly complained — online and at rallies — that Fox News is a source of personal disappointment. He’s admonished the network for airing commercials he disapproves of and booking guests that don’t toe the party line.Indeed, in the same interview in which he blurted out the fact that some at Fox helped him with his Al Smith Dinner jokes, the former president suggested to the “Fox & Friends” co-hosts that the network should only air ads that align with his political wishes.But the complaints are rooted in an unstated assumption: Trump expects Fox News to be a partisan ally in all instances, taking steps such as helping him with his speeches, rather than presenting itself as an independent news outlet.Steve BenenSteve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."Previous PostTrump says Harris should be ‘forced off’ campaign, wants Biden backNext PostTrump blames Zelenskyy and U.S. for Putin’s war in UkraineLatest PostYoungkin fails to stand up to Trump as federal cuts threaten thousands in VirginiaAboutContactHelpCareersMSNBC StoreAD ChoicesPrivacy PolicyDo Not Sell My Personal InformationCA NoticeTerms of Service (Updated JULY 7, 2023)MSNBC SitemapClosed CaptioningAdvertiseJoin the MSNBC Community© 2025 MSNBC Cable, L.L.C.NBC News LogoMSNBC LogoToday Logo
Always shifting the blame…