The apparent war between Fox News and Donald Trump looked to have cooled a bit on Monday after Roger Ailes noted that the air had been cleared between the network and the loud presidential candidate. Now, it seems that the fragile truce has ended all thanks to Megyn Kelly’s need for a vacation.
Kelly announced a vacation on show on Wednesday, but many bloggers and commentators started a rumor that the reporter had been sent on “vacation” thanks to her role in the Donald Trump fiasco. CNN Money then reports that Trump got wind of it all and decided to buy in on the theories:
In an interview with Newsmax TV on Friday, Trump indicated that he was inclined to believe the theories.
“There probably was” a connection, he said. “But I wouldn’t know about it.”
He added that “people were very very surprised that all of a sudden she decided to go away for 10 or 11 or 12 days.”
This new round of accusations seems to have been the straw that broke the conservative, water logged camel’s back, forcing the network to release a statement clarifying the reasons for Kelly’s vacation and addressing the rumors as false:
“The conspiracy theories about Megyn Kelly’s vacation rank up there with UFO’s, the moon landing and Elvis being alive. Megyn is on a pre-planned, annual summer vacation with her family, which is much deserved. To imply otherwise as Donald Trump and his campaign operatives have is not only wildly irresponsible, but downright bizarre. Perhaps Mr. Trump thinks it’s advantageous to his poll numbers to keep talking about Megyn, but that doesn’t change the fact that Roger Ailes has fully supported her and her tough journalistic questioning since day one and is thrilled with the added exposure from the debate which resulted in even higher ratings of The Kelly File this week. Anyone who knows Roger is aware of how historically and consistently loyal he is to all of his talent and how he protects them at all costs. As Governor Terry Branstad said today, ‘when you’re a candidate, you’ve got to basically answer the questions. You can’t just attack the person asking the questions. That doesn’t work.’”
Yet it is working for Trump, more than six months away from an actual, meaningful vote. And people can’t seem to understand why he is getting the reception he is getting, chalking it up to media coverage and his loud mouth. And like he’s been saying, it’s paying off for networks like Fox, all despite their anchor being thrown under the bus.
Not that she seems to be taking it poorly. In fact, she’s probably enjoying her time off and not paying attention to any of this, right?
(Via CNN Money / Mediaite)
