Exclusive: Fox News Statement Taunting Trump Was '100 Percent' Roger Ailes

[bananas]

Source: New York Magazine

As the war between Fox News and Donald Trump ratchets up, Roger Ailes is fighting off criticism from his senior executives over his handling of the crisis. According to one highly placed source, last night, Ailes sent out the now-famous statement mocking Trump as being scared to meet with the “Ayatollah” and “Putin” if he became president. “That was Roger 100 percent,” the source explained. “A lot of people on the second floor” — where top Fox executives work — “didn’t think it was a good idea.”

Fox executives are also troubled that Ailes’s principal adviser right now is his longtime personal lawyer and Fox & Friends contributor Peter Johnson Jr. “He wrote the statement with Peter,” the source explained. “Peter is running the war room,” another Ailes friend told me. Fox executives are worried that Ailes is relying on an attorney with scant communications experience as the network is reeling from the biggest PR crisis in recent memory. Historically, during a crisis like this Ailes would have huddled with his veteran communications guru Brian Lewis. But Ailes fired Lewis in 2013 over his concerns that Lewis had been a source for my 2014 Ailes biography. Since Lewis’s ouster, Johnson has taken on the role of media counselor.

Fox spokesperson Irena Briganti did not return a call. When asked about his role advising Ailes, Johnson responded to me with an ad hominem statement. "If you were ever actually fair, any semblance of integrity was swamped by your reaction to the failure of your critically panned hit job on Fox and Ailes," he said. "Just like your latest tweets and articles, your questions today are based on your own malicious fabrication."

New signs emerged today at just how frantic Ailes has become to get Trump back to the table. The two men have not spoken since yesterday, sources told me. This morning, Joe Scarborough reported that Ailes called Trump's daughter Ivanka and wife, Melania, to get through to the GOP front-runner. But Trump is saying he'll only talk to Rupert Murdoch directly. In a further challenge to Ailes's power, Bill O'Reilly is scheduled to host Trump. Last night, Ailes directed Sean Hannity to cancel Trump's interview. O'Reilly's refusal to abide by a ban adds a new dynamic to the clash of egos. For O'Reilly, this is an opportunity to take back star power from Kelly. Sources say O'Reilly feels he made Kelly's career by promoting her on his show, and he's been furious that Kelly surpassed him in the ratings.

<snip>

Read more: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/fox-statement-taunting-trump-was-all-roger-ailes.html

[840high]

1. If Trump is not at the debate

nobody will bother watching.

[Ana Hauhet]

2. should megyn kelly quit the debate?

so Trump gets his way?

[840high]

5. I really don't care.

[marble falls]

6. Abosultely not.

[7962]

7. No way in hell

[closeupready]

16. If she quit, then they can get a journalist - in Kelly's place - to give it some gravitas.

[bananas]

4. It's hurting their advertising big time: from $750,000/minute down to $150,000/minute

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2016/01/27/trump_refuses_to_play_by_the_rules

Trump Refuses to Play by the Rules
January 27, 2016

<snip>

Trump is not that hard to understand if you pay attention to him and read his books. In The Art of the Deal, one of the things that he makes a huge deal about is being able to know when to walk away and have the guts and the courage to do it.

Trump is so far outside the formula that has been established for American politics that people who are inside the formula can't comprehend it.

<snip>

Now, Trump's out there talking about how they're desperate to have him because high ratings means a lot of advertising revenue. Lower ratings means lower advertising revenue because Fox has to charge less. They were hoping to get $750,000 a minute, I heard, and they may be down to $150,000 a minute if Trump isn't there. I mean, these are samples of the kind of things going around.

<snip>

[Purveyor]

10. {{{ouch}}} eom

[trillion]

12. Since it's the Republican Party Debate, they should disqualify him from running if he doesn't show

up.

[shadowmayor]

3. Trump Swallows Fox Noise

And burps! Rush Limbaugh would make a nice dessert, just saying!

[underpants]

8. I saw Sherman (the author) on CNN last night and he nailed it

He repeated that Fox News had been running the GOP for years and that they had created their own monster. The host and the other guess completely ignored him IN STUDIO to the point that Sherman actually shook his head at one point.

[7962]

9. Yes, their response was childish, but i must admit i loved it.

because it has some truth to it. If he is so scared of being at an event where Megyn Kelly MIGHT ask a hard question, why the heck should we think he can handle Putin? Or N Korea? Or a blizzard?

[uhnope]

11. true. Pres. Trump would make GWB look competent in comparison

[trillion]

13. Please don't even say that. I can't handle it. And yeah, who knew someone could make GW look

competent. I really don't trust Trump with access to any of our nuclear arsenal.

[uhnope]

15. okay, to make you feel better

in the nightmare scenario where Trump is the GOP candidate, he loses by a historic landslide to any Dem or Bloomberg and the House and Senate both go Dem

[7962]

18. He'd lose to the Dem, but I doubt he'd lose to Bloomberg

He'd take more votes from D than R, I think. And I dont really think too many folks care for his "I'll save us" attitude

[closeupready]

17. +1.

[briv1016]

14. It's a measuring contest to see who is smaller.

We may need an electron microscope for this one.

[Sunlei]

19. Fire O'Reilly fox, hes the one who pissed off 'the donald'

[elias49]

20. This is great! Like the Republicans, Fox is eating in.

And the left had nothing to do with it.