Fox News cut away after about eight minutes of Vice President JD Vance’s roughly 30-minute Greensboro speech for GOP Senate nominee Michael Whatley, a midterm campaign stop. Anchor Sandra Smith said the network would return if Vance “starts to make news.”
A clip of Smith’s remark had gone viral by Tuesday, drawing online mockery. Some users speculated Fox’s coverage decision was affected by President Donald Trump’s announcement the previous week that CNN, Politico and MS NOW were barred from the White House. Vance had not publicly responded by Tuesday.
WFDD, a local NPR affiliate, reported that about 300 people attended the rally at the Koury Convention Center, which has capacity for 3,000. The Daily Beast published photos of attendees glancing at their phones; HuffPost described groups in the images as seemingly unenthused.