Donald Trump nominated for House speaker by Matt Gaetz
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram provides updates on the House Republicans' battle to elect a speaker as McCarthy is expected to lose the seventh vote.
A local CBS affiliate in Missouri has launched an internal investigation after an unauthorized email was sent out by the channel trashing former President Trump.
Jefferson City's CBS 13 KRCG sent an email Wednesday responding to a press release from the Make America Great Again Inc. PAC promoting an op-ed titled "Trump Can Rescue, Restore the American Dream."
"Stop sending us these pathetic emails. Stop it," the email obtained by Fox News Digital read. "We don’t want to hear from your criminal, traitorous, idiot candidate. Besides, he needs to get busy getting ready for prison. Prepare for a long stay!!"
A message sent out by the Missouri CBS affiliate KRCG email account trashing former President Trump is under investigation. (Screenshot)
The email, first reported by The Daily Caller, was blasted by Taylor Budowich, head of MAGA Inc., which is the prmary Super PAC supporting Trump's 2024 presidential run.
"Trust in America’s media is at an all-time low, not because of Republicans or President Trump, but because they’ve exposed themselves as partisan activists who defy facts and truth to push their radical world view," Budowich told Fox News Digital in a statement. "As we see with this email, it’s not just CNN and the big networks who are hostile towards President Trump, but the plague of liberal bias has infected even the smallest of local networks. Only one phrase comes to mind: enemy of the people."
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Beth Worsham, the vice president and general manager of KRCG, told The Daily Caller "this is not a reflection of our journalistic standards and will be met with disciplinary action pending an investigation."
Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which owns KRCG, did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
The email debacle from the CBS affiliate is another example of the media's longstanding animosity towards the former president.
Former President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Trump launched his third bid for the White House in November, one week after the 2022 midterms, and is currently the only declared 2024 candidate.
Some are speculating about a potential rematch between him and his 2020 rival President Biden, who has repeatedly said he intends to seek reelection, particularly after Democrats performed better than expected in the 2022 midterms many had predicted would result in a nationwide "red wave."
Since launching his candidacy, Trump has largely remained absent from the campaign trail. While polling continues to show Trump dominating in a hypothetical GOP field, the former president appears more vulnerable in one-on-one matchups, specifically with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who just won reelection in a blowout gubernatorial race in the Sunshine State.
US President Joe Biden smiles during a news conference in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022. Biden is speaking following a midterm election in which Democrats fared better than expected and avoided a worst-case scenario in Tuesday night's vote as a feared Republican wave failed to materialize. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The former president also faces multiple investigations regarding the storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property, his role in challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election and the events surrounding the Jan. 6 riot in 2021. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to spearhead the politically sensitive probes.
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Additionally, there have been questions over whether Trump maintains his influence over the GOP, specifically following the 2022 midterms where many of his most prominent endorsed candidates lost in key races.
His endorsement of Rep.-elect Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in the ongoing battle for Speaker of the House has not moved any of the 20 Republicans who are blocking the leader from reaching the 218 vote threshold. Notably, Trump has received vocal support from Rep.-elect Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for the former president to become speaker.
Trump, who previously rejected the notion of becoming speaker, teased the idea Thursday by sharing a photoshopped meme on his social media platform Truth Social of him standing behind Biden during a State of a Union address.