Posted on 08/25/2015 10:25:52 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Just flagging this so that we have an easy point of chronological reference for The Day Fox’s Trump Coverage Changed.
The truce is over.
I liked The Kelly File much better without @megynkelly. Perhaps she could take another eleven day unscheduled vacation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2015
"@bigpaulfla: @realDonaldTrump She has come back looking like Nancy Grace"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2015
"@mstanish53: @realDonaldTrump @megynkelly The bimbo back in town . I hope not for long ."
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 25, 2015
Roger Ailes allegedly warned Trump two weeks ago that if he didn’t lay off Kelly, he and the network would “go to war.” Well, here you go. War.
It's been 19 days since the debate- @realDonaldTrump has made his feelings clear. But THIS needs to stop http://t.co/8BmVPZTGdp #let-it-go
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) August 25, 2015
i like @realDonaldTrump but his personal & professional attacks on @megynkelly r unwarranted-unacceptable- has 2 stop- @foxandfriends
— Brian Kilmeade (@kilmeade) August 25, 2015
Easy, Mr. Trump. http://t.co/NhSd8KqeH4
— Bill Hemmer (@BillHemmer) August 25, 2015
This needs to stop. #unpresidential @megynkelly @nypost @realDonaldTrump http://t.co/82V47GhgTE
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) August 25, 2015
Wish pal @realDonaldTrump would cool feud with @megynkelly Point is made boss. Now world needs you to use bully pulpit to address big issues
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) August 25, 2015
It’s going to be weird when Hannity hosts his next “Trumpmania! The New American Revolution” special and can’t invite the man himself on to comment. Anyway: Why’d Trump restart this fight? I can think of two explanations and the one you prefer will depend on whether you think Trump operates largely via unthinking ego or wily media savvy. Explanation one: It’s pure hubris. He’s soaring in the polls, he’s (sort of) filling football stadiums with devotees, and he’s the hottest ticket on cable news. He could pick up the phone at any time of day or night and instantly get put on the air on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox. Maybe he figures he’s so bulletproof right now that he can take on Roger Ailes, the most powerful man in conservative media, and win. What’s the worst that can happen? If Fox cuts him off, he’ll spend the next six months doing daily call-ins on CNN and MSNBC about what a loser network full of overrated losers Fox is.
Explanation two: It’s all part of his anti-establishment game. Trump’s core message to Republican voters is that powerful interests, including and especially interests that are ostensibly allied with them on the right like the GOP leadership in Washington, aren’t really looking out for them. On the contrary, those interests routinely sell out the concerns of their base in order to please their wealthy benefactors. Immigration is the ultimate example. A war with Fox will slide easily into that narrative. Apart from a few Trump loyalists like Hannity, he’ll say, Ailes and his network have been bought and sold by the same donor-class losers who are backing Bush and Rubio. They’re an establishment outfit that shouldn’t be patronized by conservatives who want “real change” in Washington. Fox’s leverage against an antagonist like that would normally be to cut him off entirely, but like I say, Trump’s the biggest name in media right now. He doesn’t need Fox to get a TV megaphone. And if Fox takes him on by cutting coverage of Trump way back and unleashing its hosts to excoriate him, it’ll only seem to prove Trump’s point that the network has an anti-populist agenda (with Trump himself being the avatar of populism in this formula). He’ll be frozen out of Fox forever as a guest, in all likelihood, but he’s already lost various media jobs in the course of running for president. What’s one more?
Exit question: How will Ailes play this? I think Inside Cable News is right that it’ll be a “slow play” strategy where Trump’s coverage gets gradually rather than dramatically reduced to make it harder for Trump to claim that he’s being blackballed.
Update: War?
ROGER AILES statement on @megynkelly and @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/VzAHl0KVOq
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) August 25, 2015
Update: Full-court press from the Foxies:
My friend @realDonaldTrump has captured the imagination of many. Focus on Hillary, Putin, border, jobs, Iran China & leave @megynkelly alone
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) August 25, 2015
It is interesting that Kelly said “I’m a big girl. I can take it.” Then Ailes sends his “boys” out to defend his little starlet.
Fox will lose this as before but they don’t care. They so desperately need Trump for ratings and thus are life-supporting this petty slap fest drama.
Nobody cares about Fox anything but News anymore. The days of media choosing the candidate are over. Fox is a zombie - already dead but doesn’t know it.
What about that's nut in the white hut?
You don’t know what the word, ‘psychotic’ means.
If Kelly looked like a fat troll the puppy love guys would dump her like a bad habit.
Have you people not bothered to look at ever single poll out there? Have you not seen the real hope and history here? This is another harpy thread where the low information party groupie crowd hopes to derail the only top candidate in this election with more totally insignificant crap.
Attempt to maliciously sabotage Trump; #176.
Attempt #177 will be circulated any minute. Wait for it. More fail.☺
Can you characterize what she said?
That’s what I was thinking. I wonder if she’s offended. I am!
Well wimpy Megyn and some Fox talkers have rabbit ears. Trump tweets - they protest way too much and almost as much as the BTDS people.
If that’s what your complaint is with Kelly, you could make the same type of argument about Trump and his ugly and public divorces.
TMI in both cases. What does that say about the TMI’ers?
you don’t know what the phrase, “pretentious jagoff intentionally missing the point” means.
Yeah it's that stinky stuff that comes out of bulls. Faux crying.
Perhaps Mr. Trump shouldn't be on twitter, but I wholeheartedly agree with him about that witch.
Why would megyn need everybody at fox to pile on for her? She’s a hard nosed news reporter playing in the big leagues isn’t she?
Oh. A twitter thread. Pass
That’s her normal demeanor. That’s why I don’t normally watch her.
Methinks the crybabies at FNC need a nap.
“Thats what I was thinking. I wonder if shes offended. I am!”
Let me clarify: I wonder if she’s offended by having the FOX team called out to “defend” her.
Trump Responds to Ailes
UPDATE (1:37 p.m.):
In a statement, Trump said he “totally disagrees” with Ailes and said he does not think Kelly is a “quality journalist”:
“I totally disagree with the FOX statement. I do not think Megyn Kelly is a quality journalist. I think her questioning of me, despite all of the polls saying I won the debate, was very unfair. Hopefully in the future I will be proven wrong and she will be able to elevate her standards to a level of professionalism that a network such as FOX deserves. “ Trump said.
Trump said that what’s more improtant are his high poll numbers.
“More importantly, I am very pleased to see the latest polls from Public Policy Polling showing me at a strong number one with 35% in New Hampshire, the Monmouth University poll showing me, again at number one, with 30% in South Carolina and the latest national poll from Gravis where I am again the clear front runner with 40%. It was also just announced that I won the prestigious corn kernel poll at the Iowa State Fair by a landslide,” he added. “I will be in Iowa tonight with my speech being live on CNN and other networks. My sole focus in running for the Presidency is to Make America Great Again!”
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