August 21, 2024, New York, NY — Murdoch-controlled media outlets received the most links from Trump in July on Truth Social and his website DonaldJTrump.com, according to new research released today by TheRighting. Foxnews.com led all news websites with 40 links from Trump, followed by the NY Post with 37, and the Fox News Channel with 25. The Murdoch-controlled Wall Street Journal ranked ninth on TheRighting’s list with 14 links from Trump.
Overall, Trump’s linking activity decreased in July after spiking in June. In July, Trump linked to media outlets on both sides of the aisle 370 times, down from 469 times in June. Just over half of the links were to right wing media outlets while 45% of the links went to mainstream news outlets.
Research from TheRighting, based on studying hundreds of links and ReTruths on Truth Social and Trump’s website, also revealed that the ex-president sharply curtailed his linking to far-right news websites in July. For example, Trump linked to RSBN 39 times in June and only once in July. And Real America’s Voice received 34 June links from Trump and only 12 in July. Breitbart dropped from 20 to 9.
However, mainstream media outlets saw a 23% uptick in Trump links compared to June. The NY Times, CNN, Axios, NBC News brands, Politico and the Washington Post all received more than 10 links from Trump in July for articles showing the Democrats in a negative light.
“While Trump continues to moan about the ‘fake news,” he clearly has no problem referring to mainstream news outlets if it bolsters his point of view,” said Howard Polskin, President, TheRighting.
In July, Trump linked to 152 posts from news outlets that published stories reflecting poorly on Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump also disparaged President Biden in July with more than 100 negative links. On July 8, Trump even included a link to a satirical article from the Babylon Bee on Truth Social with this provocative headline: “Trump indicted for murdering elderly man on CNN.”
“The decrease in his link activity suggests that Trump was thrown off his game by Biden’s withdrawal and he’s struggling to find the most effective messaging and insults to attack his political adversaries,” said Polskin. “And the assassination attempt and its after-effects may have sapped some of his energy which appears to be reflected in his diminished July linking output. Nonetheless, he’s still a loud, aggressive voice on his platforms and his posts and linking continue to help drive news cycles.”
Research associate: Jojo Wertheimer
