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Trump says ‘Long live the King’ in rant about Fox a day after Biden said ‘God save the Queen’

Both comments came in surprising contexts

Josh Marcus
San Francisco
Saturday 17 June 2023 19:40 BST
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US president Joe Biden arrives in London for funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

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Donald Trump and Joe Biden made strange royal references this weekend.

In a rant on his Truth Social page on Saturday, Mr Trump referred to himself as “The King” in an extended, somewhat inscrutable metaphor about the relationship between him and Fox News.

“Well, it’s happened, just as I predicted,” Mr Trump wrote. “The Golden Goose that was so beautiful is being slaughtered by Fools. MAGA has left Fox for more promising “prairies.” Long live the King. The only solution for Fox News is to bring back Trump Allies and MAGA—Backing No Personality Ron DeSanctimonious has been a disaster….”

Mr Trump has been fuming at the conservative news network for years, after Fox was early in (correctly) calling the key battleground state of Arizona for Joe Biden during the 2020 election.

Things only escalated during the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against the network, in which embarrassing internal communications showed top Fox anchors and leadership questioning or outright mocking Donald Trump and his election-related conspiracies.

“Why is Rupert Murdoch throwing his anchors under the table, which also happens to be killing his case and infuriating his viewers, who will again be leaving in droves - they already are,” the former president said on Truth Social. “There is MASSIVE evidence of voter fraud & irregularities in the 2020 Presidential Election. Just look at the documentary ‘2000 MULES’ and you will see large scale ballot stuffing caught on government cameras, or votes cast without Legislatures approval, or just recently, the FBI/Twitter Files Scandal. RIGGED!!!”

Mr Trump wasn’t the only one with a monarchy moment in recent days.

On Friday, speaking before the National Safer Communities Summit in Connecticut, Mr Biden ended a speech about gun violence with the phrase, “God Save The Queen.”

Mr Biden, who often speaks of his pride in having Irish-American heritage, is usually more known for making headlines by being slightly sceptical of the British monarchy.

Last month, during a fundraising event in New York, the president said he visited Northern Ireland for the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in April to make sure “the Brits didn’t screw around.”

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