No longer fit for duty as Fox News Channel president, 75-year-old Roger Ailes’ provocative behavior toward 69-year-old GOP front-runner Donald Trump shows why it’s time for retirement. Fox Entertainment Chairman Rupert Murdoch can’t be happy with Ailes’ inexcusable Tweet-storm against Trump, accusing the GOP’s best hope to replace President Barack Obama of essentially acting too chicken to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin or Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However snarky or facetious Ailes’ comments, it was completely inappropriate for the Fox New president to stoop to such juvenile behavior. Ailes claims he’s only defending the honor of his 45-year host Megyn Kelly, who questioned Trump’s misogyny Aug. 6, 2015 at Fox News first GOP debate. Trump simply requested that Kelly be replaced as moderator in today’s debate.
Trump’s request to have Kelly removed because of extreme prejudice is nothing new. In deciding debates, presidential campaigns routinely screen moderators. Ailes’ statement that removing Kelly would breach journalistic ethics makes no sense. Her dust up with Trump in the first debate showed that Fox News, and maybe the Republican National Committee, planned to sabotage Trump in a primetime debate. Whatever Kelly’s line of questions about Trump’s alleged misogyny, and her acrimonious remarks about the GOP front-runner, should have excluded her from the debate. After their first dust up after the Aug. 6 debate, Ailes called Trump, warning him about keeping the feud going. Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” with Joe Scarborough Aug. 17, Ailes warned Trump of “war” if the tiff with Kelly wasn’t resolved amicably, not specifying what he’d do.
Trump’s GOP detractors, including his closest rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and other GOP candidates, pounced on the change to take shots at the GOP front-runner, essentially saying he was afraid of Kelly. Trump made it clear that his issue was more with Ailes, Tweeting snarky comments like middle school teenager. “It was the childishly written & taunting PR statement by Fox that made me not do the debate, more so than lightweight reporter @megynkelly,” Tweeted Trump. While Fox News backers close ranks after Ailes’ Tweet-storm, losing Trump from the debate could cost the network some 15 to 20 million viewers. Fox News host Greta Van Susteren reported that some 85% of her audience wouldn’t watch the debate. Ailes insists it’s ethics that made him pick Kelly over Trump. Trump has refused to take Ailes’ phone calls since announcing Jan. 27 he would boycott.
Appearing on Fox News “The O’Reilly Factor” with Bill O’Reilly Jan. 27, the blustery talk show host tried to cajole Trump into changing his mind. “I’m trying to convince you that your track is wrong because it’s better for the folks to see you in a debate format,” said O’Reilly, not convincing Trump to change his mind. It was clear from all O’Reilly’s questioning that Trump boycotted tonight’s debate because of Ailes’ insulting Tweets. After appearing in six prior debates, Trump has nothing to gain other than more hazing by a failing crop of GOP candidates. As Ailes promised Aug. 27, if Trump didn’t end his dispute with Kelly, there would be “war,” showing Fox News has no firewall between Ailes’ political agenda and news shows. Since the Aug. 6 debate, Fox News’ hosts and pundits have hit Trump with everything but the kitchen sink trying to wreck his presidential campaign.
Recent endorsements by the old GOP party establishment, like former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Ks.) and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), run counter to Ailes’ agenda of pushing RNC favorites like Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fl.). When conservative TV and radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Joe Scarborough agree with Trump, you know there’s something in the works. “I think Trump is shaking up the way people look at Fox News as maybe not always our [conservative] network,” said best-selling conservative author Ann Coulter. “Why would Roger Ailes start a fight that could cost him, God, 15 to 20 million people,” said Coulter, hinting at something wrong with Ailes. Ignoring Trump’s request to have Kelly off the debate, Ailes decided to assert his own power-and-control, not consider what’s best for Fox New and, more importantly, Iowa Caucus voters.
Ailes’ snarky Tweet-storm against Trump must have felt good at the time but gives the whole network and voters something to think about. Trump’s decision to boycott tonight’s debate says more about Ailes than Megyn Kelly. Running Fox News since Oct. 7, 1996, the 75-year-old Ailes shows he’s long overdue for retirement. “We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees,” Ailes wrote after Trump’s campaign manager Cory Lewandowski said Kelly had “a rough couple of days after the last debate.” When Ailes threatened “war” with Trump Aug. 17, 2015, calling Kelly’s treatment “terrorizations” sounds hypocritical. No one’s abused a “news organization” more than Ailes, turning Fox News into the voice of the Republican Party. Trump’s decision to say “no” to Ailes sent him into a temper tantrum with bad consequences for Fox News.
