Fox News President Roger Ailes — who is no stranger to making incendiary comments — recently told globalgrind.com’s Russel Simmons that both the right and the left are wrong in their response to the mass shooting in Arizona.
“This is just bullshit. Â This goes on … both sides are wrong, but they both do it,” Ailes said on the media’s using maps that target Congressional districts in their coverage. Ailes cited the map former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) used that put targets over Democratic Congressional districts, and also a Democratic Party map that he said put targets over Palin’s district.
Ailes also said he gave instructions to Fox employees to dial back their rhetoric: “I told all of our guys, shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually. You don’t have to do it with bombast. I hope the other side does that.”
TPM SLIDESHOW: On The Ground In Arizona: TPM Retraces Shooting Suspect’s Steps]
Ailes also said there were enough warning signs that the alleged shooter Jared Loughner was unstable before the rampage on Saturday.
“He was a flag burner,” Ailes said. “He just was not attached to the Tea Party. It’s just a bullshit way to use the death of a little girl to get Fox News in an argument.”
Simmons concluded by saying that — left or right — we need to create a more intellectual dialogue on how to govern the country. He also admitted he was “to the left” of Obama. Ailes, of course, couldn’t resist a jibe at that.
“Then you must be skinny, you can’t get between the wall and him,” Ailes said, laughing. “You got to be one skinny guy, man.”
