Trump says he might skip next debate (on Fox News), after Fox issues satirical 'press release'


Tom Paine



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The Fox release, in the form of a message sent to another media outlet, reads:

"We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president — a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings."

There's considerable  debate about who put the statement out. Many attribute it to Roger Ailes, Chairman and CEO of Fox News. My own theory, based on a passing familiarity with his twitter account (@rupertmurdoch), is that Rupert himself may have authored it because of the nature of the language. But some have suggested that Rupert is moving closer to Trump, and this tweet supports that view:



The one thing for certain is that no one I heard tonight really knows what's going on.

I doubt many in my audience, which I know fairly well, cares much for Fox News. But one thing worth understanding is that it does not have a unified voice, particularly when it cones to Trump. Fox News gave the Trump candidacy oxygen, and several of its personalities were active cheerleaders. Living in New York, Trump had the opportunity to cultivate relationships with some of them.

But many of the more senior commentators thought the idea of a Trump candidacy ridiculous.  My impression was someone (Ailes?) was orchestrating the pro-Trump concerto, but some more senior people weren't going to take marching orders.

The other big issue, of course, is Trump's continuing vicious attacks on anchor Megyn Kelly.


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