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
yeah. drunken, late night twitter rants is exactly what I’m looking for in a president.
Ailes has spoken.
In the meantime, Roger, warm up the casting couch.
I thought meGYN started it on her show?
How does Fox figure to hurt Trump? They are trying pretty hard as it is. Biting bitter opposition will just increase his numbers and decrease theirs as those conservatives who have loved that there is a “conservative” network out there have it finally held up in their faces that Fox is GOPE, not conservative.
He doesn’t drink.
That’s exactly what I was thinking.... drunken tweets.
The American people will take care of Kelly and Fox. Turning off the TV does more harm than DOts tweets
Breitbart TV...!!
Maybe he should start.
Personally, I wish that Fox News should knock off dressing its news readers (all really smart ladies) up like call girls. Every day the skirts get shorter, the shoulders barer, the necklines lower, and the heels higher. It diminishes the import of what they are saying and opens them to unfair criticism.
If Trump keeps it up, he could lose the blonde vote. /S
I don’t think Trump is stupid enough to break an agreed truce with Fox and start a Twitter war unless Megyn said something derogatory about him first on her show.
She'll also be sitting on the curb with her box of personal belongings.
Donald does not drink... alcohol killed his older brother...
So you want Yeb instead? Hug it out? geesh..
So, he's just a raving old nutter?
That's comforting.
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