In an interview with Russell Simmons, published today by Simmons' website Global Grind, Ailes addressed the tragedy and the partisan rhetoric some say is to blame for the incident.
Ailes to some extent defended Sarah Palin's use of crosshairs imagery during the 2010 campaign, arguing that such rhetoric was not uncommon in politics. Palin has come under criticism in the wake of the shooting for having created a "target list" of lawmakers she hoped to unseat, including Giffords. Palin released a map featuring the 20 targeted House Democrats that used crosshairs to show their districts.
(snip)
But Ailes called the use of such imagery "bulls**t" and said "both sides are wrong, but they both do it."
"I told all of our guys, shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually," the Fox News president said. "You don't have to do it with bombast. I hope the other side does that."
Very disappointing to hear this from Roger Ailes...
Read entire article here, and don't miss the hurl-worthy lefty comments after the article (FReepers, feel free to add your own comments!):