We were told it was a fight Trump could never win – a picked battle with the most trust institution in conservative America: Fox News. The numbers made it clear. Trump was done. It was only a matter of time.
And yet here we have it: Fox’s unconditional surrender. Fox Capo Roger Ailes was forced to choose between star anchor Megyn Kelly and Trump. And he made his choice: Beg Trump for forgiveness, mend fences and welcome Trump back into the fold.
We’d seen hints of this in Trump’s claim that Ailes had called him to promise he’d get fair treatment from Fox going forward. A claim Ailes later confirmed. But now Gabriel Sherman, chronicler of all things Fox has the inside details. And like everything else that could possibly be spawned by the unholy union of Roger Ailes and Donald Trump, it’s ugly.
According to Sherman, Ailes didn’t just call Trump to get the relationship back on track. He apparently called Trump “multiple” times “begging” Trump to declare the Trump v Fox war over, which he eventually did. He offered him a full hour on Kelly’s show. Trump refused. Any other show. Trump said he’d think about it. Anything for a cessation of hostilities. But as Sherman points out, “that process has meant that Fox has had to mute its defense of Kelly, who is now watching uneasily as the Fox audience turns on her: According to one high-level source, Kelly has told Fox producers that she’s been getting death threats from Trump supporters.”
So there you have it, the fabled Fox v. Trump War lasted all of six days, just as long as the Six Day War and perhaps even more decisive of a victory for Trump.
