March 3rd 2023.
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At his first appearance at CPAC on Friday, Steve Bannon singled out Fox News as one of his primary opponents. He accused them of unlawfully declaring Joe Biden's victory in Arizona during the 2020 election and berated them for not having Donald Trump on the air since he declared his campaign in November. Bannon further riled up the crowd by criticizing Rupert Murdoch, the News Corp. founder, and telling him that they would battle him every step of the way.
This latest feud between MAGA world and Fox News is the most heated it has ever been, with Trump himself having complained about the channel's allegedly unfair coverage and the face of CPAC, Matt Schlapp, not appearing on Fox since allegations of sexual assault by a campaign staffer. At the conference, many attendees expressed their displeasure with the network, saying they had completely stopped watching in 2019 or 2020 and instead were tuning in to more alternative conservative networks like Newsmax.
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In his inaugural minutes on the stage of CPAC on Friday, Steve Bannon pointed out one of his primary objectives at that time which he maintained was putting itself in danger by opposing Donald Trump's presidential campaign: Fox News.
The popular War Room podcast host and long-time Trump supporter began by denouncing the conservative channel for reporting that Joe Biden had won Arizona on election night in 2020.
“Fox News incorrectly declared the victory of the opposition, not Donald J. Trump,” the Trump advisor-turned-talk show host told the crowd of MAGA supporters present in National Harbor, Maryland.
After about 10 minutes, Bannon went after the network again, inspiring the audience to stand up as he reminded them that Trump had not been featured on the network since he declared his campaign in November. He also called out Rupert Murdoch, the head of the media empire.
“Murdoch, you think Trump will not be president,” Bannon continued as the crowd erupted into applause. “But we are determined to prove that you will not have a network because we will battle you every step of the way.” 
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Bannon's open confrontation with Fox News is the latest development in a heated conflict between MAGA world and the long-time conservative channel. Trump himself has gone off on Fox News in the past, generally because of what he considered to be biased coverage. But the current situation - at the beginning of what is expected to be a highly competitive Republican primary - is more strained than ever.
The network has not had the former president on its airwaves since November. The face of CPAC, American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp, a close ally of Trump, has also not been featured on the channel since allegations emerged in January that he sexually assaulted a campaign worker. And among those gathered at the CPAC conference, disdain for Fox News was a common sentiment.
Sandra Salstrom, a harpist from Houston, said she gets all the news she needs from Bannon's War Room show, and enjoys watching shows hosted by Charlie Kirk, another prominent right-wing commentator.
“I no longer have anything to do with Fox,” said Salstrom, explaining that she does not have a television at home but used to watch the network when she was at the gym. “They disgust me.”
“I haven't watched Fox in years,” said Andra Griffin of Manatee County, Fla., who said she stopped watching the network in 2019, and had completely “disconnected from Fox” by 2020. Instead, right-wing activists like Griffin have turned their attention to more alternative conservative networks like Newsmax, which had a great presence at CPAC.
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