Fox News judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano’s appearances on the cable news network have dropped in recent weeks amid his criticism of President Trump.
Napolitano had 123 appearances on Fox News and Fox Business in the last eight weeks compared with 150 appearances during the same time period last year — an 18% decrease — according to TheWrap.
Last month, Napolitano, 68, said special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings “might be enough to prosecute” the president for obstruction of justice. He also called Trump’s behavior “unlawful, defenseless, and condemnable.”
Trump fired back at the analyst, saying Napolitano has been “very hostile” since he asked the president to appoint him to the Supreme Court and to pardon a friend.
….Ever since Andrew came to my office to ask that I appoint him to the U.S. Supreme Court, and I said NO, he has been very hostile! Also asked for pardon for his friend. A good “pal” of low ratings Shepard Smith.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 28, 2019
Napolitano said the president was the one who pitched the idea of the pardon and that he and Trump had joked about his appointment to the Supreme Court while discussing Antonin Scalia’s replacement, though he never believed he was being seriously considered for the vacancy.
Fox News declined to comment to the Washington Examiner.
Fox television hits, however, are hardly Napolitano’s only line of work. He writes for a numer of publication and teaches law courses. So a drop in his television appearances cannot necessarily be correlated directly to criticisms of Trump.
[Previous coverage: Andrew Napolitano: Mueller can show Trump campaign ‘had a connection to Russian intelligence’]
