Fox News has pulled an ad calling for U.S. President Donald Trump’s impeachment after what it called “strong negative reaction” from its viewers.
The move came after Trump openly blasted the Democratic donor who paid for the ad as “wacky and unhinged.”
Tom Steyer has launched a $10-million ad campaign that called for Trump’s removal; a one-minute TV ad started running as part of the campaign last week, according to Forbes.
The ad was produced by Need to Impeach, a Steyer-backed group that has started a petition calling for Trump’s impeachment, according to CNN.
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In the TV ad, Steyer said Trump has “brought us to the brink of nuclear war, obstructed justice at the FBI and in direct violation of the constitution, he’s taken money from foreign governments and threatened to shut down news organizations that report the truth.”
“If that isn’t a case for impeaching and removing a dangerous president, then what has our government become?” Steyer asked.
The ad showed during Fox & Friends three times on Oct. 27.
On that same day, Trump issued a tweet blasting Steyer as “wacky and totally unhinged,” saying he “never wins elections!”
Steyer fired back.
Steyer bought seven additional ads on Fox News for the next week, but he later said on MSNBC that the network wouldn’t air them.
Fox News confirmed in a Monday statement that it wouldn’t be airing the ads.
“Due to the strong negative reaction to their ad by our viewers, we could not in good conscience take their money,” Fox News co-president Jack Abernethy said in the statement.
Brad Deutsch, Steyer’s lawyer, accused the network of caving to pressure from the White House.
Need to Impeach said it was told it would receive a refund for the second week of ads it had bought, but hadn’t received the money as of Monday, according to CNN.
- With files from The Associated Press
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