BURSTFox News anchor Bret Baier says President Trump is partly responsible for the decline in trust among Americans toward the mainstream media.
“Of course, yeah, he kind of broke the system," Baier told Politico Playbook this week when asked about Trump's influence on media. " ... and maybe that was part of his MO, what he wanted to do."
"But middle America didn’t trust what they were getting from a lot of media," he added.
Public opinion polls have shown a steady decline in Americans' trust in major institutions for years, and most acutely legacy media outlets.
A survey conducted by Gallup last October, just weeks before the 2024 presidential election, found just over 30 percent of Americans said they have a "great deal" of trust in the news media to report on current events "fairly and accurately."
Trump has for years ridiculed major media outlets, and during his second term has sought to apply pressure to broadcast networks and others in the news business he feels have not covered him fairly.
The president has also sent consistent criticism at Baier's network over its polling and the commentary of some of its regular pundits, though he has also picked a number of hosts and contributors to serve in his Cabinet.