Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he and Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes have — once again — cleared the air.
After trading insults and accusations this week, Trump told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham on her show Wednesday that Ailes was “a good friend” and that the two had spoken just before the interview.
“Roger Ailes is great. Roger Ailes is a special guy, a good friend of mine,” Trump said on the radio program. “We just spoke two minutes ago. I mean Roger Ailes is a great guy. And, no, I have no problem.”
This week’s drama started when Fox News host Megyn Kelly returned to her show from vacation on Monday. She took the vacation, which Fox News later said was a pre-planned summer beach getaway, amid a flurry of attacks from Trump over the way she helped moderate the first GOP debate.
The attacks eventually led to a reconciliation between Trump and the news channel, although the Republican frontrunner said he had no plans to appear on Kelly’s show again.
But when Kelly returned to the air this week, the detente ended. Trump tweeted that Kelly’s show, “The Kelly File,” was better without her, and that she was “really off her game.”
The next day, Ailes released a lengthy statement demanding that Trump apologize for the “surprise and unprovoked attack.” Later on Tuesday, Trump said that he disagreed with Ailes and did not think Kelly was a “quality journalist.”
By Wednesday, Trump had changed his tune, however. He told Ingraham that he had spoken with Ailes and then even added some kind words for Kelly.
“I actually liked her show very much last night,” Trump said, “if you want to know the truth.”
A Fox spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
h/t: Politico
