Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:11 pm
Fox News and Donald Trump have so little credibility that some journalists are openly questioning whether Fox and Trump are faking their feud.
Dan Rather raised his suspicions on The Rachel Maddow Show:
https://youtu.be/ztqX2T57-Pk
Rather said:
I`m a little suspicious, without very much info, a little suspicious of this battle between Trump and FOX. What we do know is that Trump is really smart as he said when he started the run, don`t underestimate him. And Roger Ailes, whether you agree with his politics or not, another smart guy. Whether they`ve gotten together and planned this out or not, it works to their mutual benefit right now.
FOX can argue, listen, we don`t give sweetheart deals over the Republican candidate and Trump can say, I tell you I`m independent. When I say I`m independent, I`m really independent, because look at even FOX.
CBS News’ Chip Reid also reported on suspicions of some towards the motives of Fox News and Donald Trump, “The reason Trump says Kelly should apologize to him is that he says her questions in the debate were very unfair. By the way, some critics are wondering if the debate between Fox and Trump is manufactured. You might recall that after the first phase of the fight, Trump went on Fox and the ratings went through the roof. Some people are wondering if that is going to happen again.”
Dan Rather covered Richard Nixon, who Roger Ailes worked for, so his comments were spoken like a man who had seen the how low the Nixon people were willing to go firsthand. Rather didn’t say that the feud was fake, but that he was skeptical.
I wouldn’t put it past Ailes and Trump to put Megyn Kelly through the ringer for their benefit. To keep the emotions authentic, the feud would work best if Kelly was not aware of the situation.
Realistically, Fox News is part of the Republican establishment, and it is well known that Ailes wants to help elect another Republican president. Outside of ratings and polls, the Trump/Fox News feud doesn’t benefit anyone. Republicans are deeply divided on the issue, with some supporting the network/Kelly and many other supporting Trump.
The feud between the top conservative network and the leader of the Republican primary field has not been good for the network or the party. The only person who has directly benefitted has been Donald Trump.
Logically, a fake Trump/Fox News feud doesn’t make sense, but if there is one consistent truth about the recent behavior of Republicans and the right it is that their behavior is governed by emotion not logic.
Journalists seem to be doubting the authenticity of the feud because they don’t want to admit to themselves that what they are seeing is the real face of a large segment of the Republican Party. Republicans really do have an agenda against women, and they will even support attacking a high-profile female employee of Fox News.
Whether or not Trump and Ailes conspired together to cook up a story that boosts both Fox’s ratings, and Trump’s presidential campaign is unknown, but the fact that some journalists would suspect this possibility highlights the lack of credibility of both Fox News and Donald Trump.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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