Roger Ailes must be looking up from Hell and musing at all this. One thing is certain: had we all been watching Ailes and his machinations back in the day, most particularly his making Donald Trump a regular fixture on Fox & Friends back in 2011, we would not have been astonished at Trump coming down the escalator in 2015, with his paid extras cheering in the background, nor by anything that has happened since.
We got blindsided because we did not take the bad guys seriously. That happened to the Germans in 1933 and it happened to us in 2015. Hopefully, we have learned our lesson and will now keep a watchful eye.
Ailes is gone but his brainchild, Fox News, is hale and hearty and moving right along into a post-Trump, post-Big Lie era.
You well remember Trump’s admonition in 2015, “Call Sean Hannity.” That’s all over. Now the watchword is, Don’t Call Sean Hannity. He’ll call you. And don’t hold your breath, especially if you’re Donald Trump. New York Times:
Mr. Trump has complained recently to aides that even Sean Hannity, his friend of 20 years, doesn’t seem to be paying him much attention anymore, one person who spoke to him recalled. […]
On April 13, Mr. Trump called into Mr. Hannity’s show and ran through a list of crises he claimed would not be happening “had we won this election, which we did.”
He hasn’t been interviewed on the network since.
Getting guillotined by Hannity is certainly a milestone, but it’s far and away not the only thing that has happened vis a vis Trump and Fox News.
The snubs are not coincidental, according to several people close to Mr. Murdoch’s Fox Corporation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the company’s operations. This month, The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, both owned by Mr. Murdoch, published blistering editorials about Mr. Trump’s actions concerning the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol.
The skepticism toward the former president extends to the highest levels of the company, according to two people with knowledge of the thinking of Mr. Murdoch, the chairman, and his son Lachlan, the chief executive. It also reflects concerns that Republicans in Washington, like Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, have expressed to the Murdochs about the potential harm Mr. Trump could cause to the party’s chances in upcoming elections, especially its odds of taking control of the Senate.
The Murdochs’ discomfort with Mr. Trump stems from his refusal to accept his election loss, according to two people familiar with those conversations, and is generally in sync with the views of Republicans, like Mr. McConnell, who mostly supported the former president but long ago said the election was settled and condemned his efforts to overturn it.
One person familiar with the Murdochs’ thinking said they remained insistent that Fox News had made the right call when its decision desk projected that Joseph R. Biden would win Arizona just after 11 p.m. on the night of the election — a move that infuriated Mr. Trump and short-circuited his attempt to prematurely declare victory. This person said Lachlan Murdoch had privately described the decision desk’s call, which came days before other networks concluded that Mr. Trump had lost the state, as something only Fox “had the courage and science to do.”
My opinion of this is that Fox News was asserting its control that night. By calling Arizona for Biden, Fox was showing Trump the shape of things to come and hoping he would take the cue and play along. If he had done so, and simply acknowledged his loss, then Fox News probably would have restructured the game to pitting a new and experienced Trump against Joe Biden and getting Trump set up for the 2024 run and a second White House term. He probably would be on Fox 24/7 if he had done things their way.
But Trump refused to take the cue. He refused to play ball. Instead, he insisted on doing things his way and the whole crazy mess ended in the parking lot of the Four Seasons Landscaping in Philadelphia, as well you recall and history will never forget.
Some of the people acknowledged that Fox’s current approach to Mr. Trump could be temporary. If Mr. Trump announces he is running for president, or if he is indicted, he will warrant more coverage, they said.
Trump is not going to announce his candidacy until after the midterms. The RNC has seen to that, Or, maybe Trump will go rogue on the RNC like he did on Fox News. Anything is possible. If the past seven years has taught us anything, it has taught us that.
Fox has found its new golden boy in Ron DeSantis.
One recent segment on FoxNews.com featured interviews with Trump supporters who were overwhelmingly unenthusiastic about a possible third campaign, saying that they thought “his time has passed” and that he was “a little too polarizing.” Then they offered their thoughts on who should replace him on the ticket. Unanimously, they named Mr. DeSantis.
“I spent 11 years at Fox, and I know nothing pretaped hits a Fox screen that hasn’t been signed off on and sanctioned at the very top levels of management,” said Eric Bolling, a former Fox host who is now with Newsmax. “Especially when it has to do with a presidential election.”
Fox is deliberate and Fox is playing the long game. Trump is impulsive and makes everything up on the fly. It’s not surprising that their ways should part.
Their relationship will next hinge on whether Trump gets indicted. Meanwhile, Ron DeSantis is in the wings and he takes direction. Fox can use a talent like him. And rest assured they will.
Hannity might have put Trump in the rearview mirror but Donnie-Two-Scoops still has Tucker Carlson out there on the airwaves fluffing him every night. And (blonde & blue – naturally although she’s too old to be Trophy Wife #4) Laura Inghaham is singing Trump’s praises every night. “Judge” Jeannine Pirro who probably goes to sleep hugging a Trump Bear is over their on Fox somewhere too but since she looks WAY too different than wannabe Princess Ivanka Trump would never give her the time of day if he had a crate full of alarm clocks.
If/when Carlson and Ingraham get marching orders to give Trump the cold shoulder and stop fluffing him then and only then will I believe the Murdochs have decided Trump is a liability to their agenda and has to get cut off at the knees. If they are hoping ordering Hannity to cool things with Trump will send a message that it’s over and to let it go then they are fucking delusional.
Faux news, like the GOP and McConnell, carried water for the mango monster and abetted the Big Lie to the point that the monster and his followers still believe it. I have no doubts all of them except Ingraham and Carlson have some major regrets for not dumping the BS sooner, unfortunately for the rest of his who can’t wait for the reign of infantile, vindictive terror to end.
Me suspects lawsuits & the potential loss of significant revenue has altered the shitstream like climate change has altered the jet stream.
…
Break-ups are so sad. lmao