Posted on 01/26/2016 8:29:01 PM PST by springwater13
In a rapidly intensifying back-and-forth between Fox News Channel and the campaign of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, the network Tuesday night accused Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski of threatening FNC host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly.
In a statement, a Fox News spokesperson said "in a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a 'rough couple of days after that last debate' and he 'would hate to have her go through that again.' Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can't give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees."
(Excerpt) Read more at adweek.com ...
I appreciate your points, but to me this goes beyond Trump, and is highly pertinent in a more general sense. The media has for a long time been in the position to make or break candidates, and define elections and American politics. That’s a lot of power, especially when it’s accompanied by an agenda or specific ideological leanings. Candidates have a right, and indeed a responsibility to fight back and hold the media to high standards.
If the same types of questions were being asked of everyone, it would be more understandable, but they are not.
When have any debate moderators ever asked Hillary about anti-Semitic comments ascribed to her, her alleged abusive treatment of her Secret Service detail and others, her role in the firings in the White House travel office in order to bring in her own people from Arkansas, and her alleged comments to women involved with Bill, etc. etc. All of these are indicative of very abusive behavior, far beyond anything Trump has been accused of, but they are not the subject of debate moderator inquiries. In fact, moderators are reluctant to even ask her about highly relevant current issues, including Benghazi and her use of personal email for classified information.
My point is just that no candidate has the obligation to submit to media bias, and to willingly participate in a process that is designed to target them personally.
Regarding first class journalism, in the context of the issue of Trump’s treatment of women a journalist should be asking questions about how many women he’s employed over the years, the upward mobility of women in his organization, whether they are paid equally well, etc. A first class journalist would ask those questions already knowing the answers.
Most importantly, first class journalism is blind to personal bias. Using that criterion, too few reach that level.
;D
As I recall she asked the question and comments prior to in a very snarky manner and had that look she gets on her face kind of a smirk that says I got you on this one.
Morning Joe just did a great ‘attaboy’ Trump....
...I came in late, but it was good!!!
You a Deplorable Diplomat, A Globalist Businessman, A Trust Fund Baby, or a Eurocrat NWO Shill? Only options I see for someone hanging out in Bavaria with that kind of view and having time to post on here. Oh I forgot.... A CIA Operative? Well spill it brother. Which one?
Likie most of America today, it’s full of drama queens.
FOX GET OVER IT AND KELLY IS NOTHING BUT A SHRILL AGAINST TRUMP.
Her ego was bruised and they can’t let it go.
True. He endorsed Trump. He Said Cruz is too rigid, too right wing. Cruz would lose the Northeast.
I get that. I don’t take offense because I am more to the right in social issues than he. I don’t extrapolate that into Guiliane thinks supporters of Cruz are too rigid, too right wing. As Guiliane said after his last run, there is a difference between a Northeast Republican and a Republican from the South
He also said he believed Trump is making a mistake in not doing the debate.
Said when he was running he knew he was going to get “ trick questions, tough questions, the (fist to palm ) “ go getcha” questions giving examples of the ones he was asked. A candidate needs to be prepared. They always go after the front runner. Trump is the front runner.
He went on to ask “But do you the guy that comes out of this that I respect most? Your boss, Roger Ailes.....He is a genius and he understands loyalty.”
He closed with “I need to get in one thing. You did not ask an unfair question.”
There was much more between his endorsement and cutting to commercial than presented.
.
Not watched Kelly since that night and never watch FOX at nights. The only show I watch, sort of anyway while I get ready is the morning show and that is crap since Hassleback came. Thankfully she has left and hopefully the show gets better.
Greta would do a superb job as a moderator.
It would take a magician to find a threat in that.
This context, of across-the-board media bias, is one which we all accept but it does not indict Fox in general nor Megan Kelly in particular. Even more, it does not exonerate Donald Trump from the egregious behavior.
If media bias alone were enough to excuse boorishness then we would have to concede the Trump has a point. But Trump boosters act as though Trump originated counterattacks against biased media. This has been done previously by real experts who, significantly, did not resort to boorishness in the process. Newt Gingrich did it right in the previous cycle and Ted Cruz has done it right in this cycle. Donald Trump should have done it without referring to Megan Kelly's menstrual cycle. He should have done it decently if he believed it.
Gingrich and Cruz were attacking the media for making illegitimate questions but you are excusing Donald Trump when the media asks quite legitimate questions. When the media tries to turn one Republican against another, or contrives some other non-issue, like birth control last cycle, the media is wrong and our guys were right to call them out when they did it. But Donald Trump has actually done the things which Megan Kelly recited. Unlike the Republicans who know how to counterattack the media, Donald Trump is actually guilty of the peccadilloes complained of. It does not matter that Megan Kelly might or might not have a personal animus against Donald Trump or his policies if her allegations are true-and they are. It does matter if Katie Couric harbors a "gotcha" scheme against Sarah Palin if the issue is contrived-and it was.
The object of a debate is to contest the contestants, it is not, as one of you has suggested, the duty of the moderator to explore the positive aspects of the candidates biography or policy stance and rehabilitate them. It is not Megan Kelly's job to offer up a defense for Donald Trump, voters want to know if he has a defense and if he can articulate one. Rehabilitating the candidate as we saw done in spades by the moderators of the Democrat debates is not an acceptable course either for journalists or in the long run for conservatives. The debates must be an adversarial proceeding (applied evenly to both parties) in order to present to the voters a true picture of the candidates, just as a trial at law is an adversarial proceeding for the same reason. The adversarial proceeding must be done according to proper procedure as Megan Kelly clearly did. Kelly was doing her journalistic duty and did it according to the rules of fair play. She quoted the man's words back to him and simply asked him to comment.
It is right and proper to complain of improper journalistic practice when it exists but it is harmful to the process to contrive one phony excuse after another for Donald Trump. It is wrong to complain when the process is being done right just as it is equally our duty to complain about journalistic malpractice. Nor is relativism to be tolerated. It is not right to wrongfully blame Megan Kelly for journalistic malpractice just because Democrat hacks commit journalistic malpractice. It is not right to excuse Donald Trump of his sins just because Democrats excuse Hillary Clinton of far more egregious sins.
Donald Trump was not set up by Megan Kelly, he was set up by Donald Trump and his big mouth. I decline to submit to turning the world on its head one more time so that Donald Trump can be right.
The election has become Trump v. the Media (ie the Elite who have been selling out the majority of the country)
Trump can win with that.
Trust Fund Baby then.... ;-)
Ailes represents the corporate cheap labor establishment not conservatives. Megan is Aile’s proxy mouthpiece assigned to attack and marginalize Trump.
I reject your contention that Fox and Megan Kelly are innocent of bias or have acted correctly toward Trump.
You ignore the assertions of Kelly’s constant attacks against Trump using her show, and Fox’s adding of a Muslim questioner specifically to attack Trump.
The media in the U.S. has been the kingmaker for 50 years. They have become the enemy. A large number of Americans see this to be so, likely a majority. It is not a matter of simple bias. It is an active agenda that rejects the interests of the United States as paramount; that rejects the Constitution as the framework of government in the United States.
The object of media debates has *not* been to “contest the contestants”. It has become the media vehicle to knock out candidates they dislike and to pick the candidates that they wish to win the primaries; then the general election.
Trump has turned this election cycle into one in which the choice is Trump or the Media elites.
Gingrich and Cruz have fought back against the Media with some success, but nothing like the success that Trump has.
The Media should *not* run the debates, the candidates should. The basic question is: Who is in charge of what the people see; the Media or the Candidates?
If the Media were reasonably fair, the people would be happy with the Media running the debates, and so would most of the Candidates. But it is clear that the Media wish to pick winners and losers, and their desires do not coincide with the majority of the electorate.
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