Digesting the hatchet job by Fox News in the Aug. 6 GOP debate against 69-year-old real estate tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump, 75-year-old Fox News President Roger Ailes called to apologize. After breaking all ratings records with 24 million watching the debate, Ailes realized Fox News tried to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Known as a favorite of religious and social conservatives, the same group that elected former President George W. Bush twice in 2000 and 2004, Ailes realized the network had to pivot quickly with Trump or face unappealing consequences. Called out by conservative radio media icon Rush Limbaugh for “setting up” Trump, Ailes realized his moderators, Chris Wallance, Megyn Kelly and Bret Bair went too far going after Trump. Kelly admitted “she was in the arena” when she went after Trump with what looked like a cheap shot.
Kelly accused Trump of misogyny for making apparently disparaging comments against women on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” reality TV show. Kelly asked Trump if he thought his past disparaging remarks against women disqualified him from becoming president. Kelly knew, along with her Fox News handlers, that Trump’s theatrics were part of the entertainment business. Not once did Kelly bring up the context of Trump’s role on his show playing the supreme critic, sometimes to the point of appearing obnoxious. Ailes called to Trump to mend fences, signaling Fox News finally gets it that Trump’s performance in the GOP’s first debate kept his front-runner status—by a long-shot. Trump’s closest rival, former Gov. Jeb Bush, lost ground in the debate, now trailing Trump by a full 12%. Other GOP hopefuls, like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), practically self-destructed on national TV, changing the 2016 GOP landscape.
After his dust-up with Kelly and piling on by the conservatives over the weekend, Trump emerged today stronger than before the debate. While second tier candidate former CEO Carly Fiorina lashed out at Trump following his exchange with Kelly, Trump’s resiliency in the polls showed Ailes that Trump’s for real. Post debate analysis showed that 33% of voters opinions remained the same, 33% liked Trump more and 33% continue to dislike the New York real estate developer. Of all the GOP candidates, with the exception of perhaps New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Trump looked most spontaneous and unscripted. Bush looked like he was repeating memorized talking points, making him look robotic, but, more importantly, not ready for prime-time. Despite the lack of polish in Trump’s answers to inappropriate questions, he looked real and down-to-earth.
Making peace with Trump, Ailes put 43-year-old Republican Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on notice that things are changing in the Republican Party. Unlike social and religious conservatives, mainstream Republicans had lost their voice on Fox News. Trump’s expected interview with Fox News most conservative host Sean Hannity indicates that Ailes has acquiesced to Trump. Ailes is the last person to toss ratings out the window. In a competitive cable market, no one in recent years has commanded more media attention than Trump. Considered a household name as America’s most successful real estate investor, Trump’s stint on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” only cemented his celebrity status. Before the Aug. 6 debate, Fox News thought it could execute the RNC’s game plan of getting rid of Trump and paving the way for more conservative GOP candidates.
Called out as a fake Republican by Rand Paul in the debate, the Kentucky senator found out how easily things backfire against someone like Trump. Paul accused Trump of not knowing the GOP’s opposition to single-payer health care, just as Trump touted successful programs in Canada and Scotland. No one on the right knows what to do with Obamacare, other than repeal it. With over 10 million Americans getting health insurance from Obamacare, the GOP has run out of options, other than coming up with a better plan. Trump promised in the debate to replace Obamacare with something better. Paul has no option other that yanking health insurance away from 10 million voters. Unlike his GOP rivals, Trump has no philosophical opposition to the government providing health care. Ailes saw something that made him mend fences with Trump before it hurt Fox’s already dwindling ratings.
Fox News’s first GOP debate marked a sea change in the Republican Party. Either join the public’s love-affair with Trump or risk becoming irrelevant. Showing its conservative colors in the first debate soured a lot of mainstream Republicans and independents to Fox News. Ailes overture to Trump today recognizes that Trump’s appeal to the GOP goes beyond Fox News’s conservative viewers. “They want someone who’s an outsider, who can upset the applec-art,” said Craig Robinson, former political director of the Iowa Republican Party. “They’re willing to deal with a less-than-perfect candidate if they believe it will actually change things in Washington,” showing that 2016 could be the year of mainstream, independently-minded Republicans and Democrats. If you “can’t beat-em, join-em,” Ailes showed he can switch gears quickly to save Fox News’s ratings.
