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Wash. Post Blogger: Trump Triumph Over Fox News 'Amazing'
Tuesday, August 11, 2015 05:18 PM
By: Cathy Burke
Donald Trump pulled off the "most amazing feat yet" in his presidential campaign – winning a stare-down with Fox News after bitterly complaining about its moderators in the first GOP debate, according to Washington Post political blogger Chris Cillizza.
In a post Tuesday, Cillizza writes the power play with Fox News Channel — which he described as "the gold standard for GOP candidates running for president" – makes Trump's victory "all the more remarkable."
"In the wake of last Thursday's Republican debate, Trump made quite clear — as only he can — that he thought he had been mistreated by the Fox moderators and, in particular, Megyn Kelly," Cillizza writes.
"Then Trump hit Fox where they live — ratings."
Cillizza notes Trump phoned into a number of Sunday television talk shows except for "Fox News Sunday."
Cillizza reports Fox News moderator Chris Wallace said Trump's absence was because of the program's refusal to let him call in by phone.
"Regardless, the snub fueled speculation that Trump was boycotting Fox, which, clearly caused consternation from the top brass at the network," Cillizza writes.
But on Monday morning, Trump tweeted that Roger Ailes, the chairman and CEO of Fox News, had called to assure him he'd be treated fairly.
New York magazine also reported Ailes called the real estate billionaire "multiple" times Monday "begging" him to declare on Twitter that there was a truce.
The magazine reported Trump turned down a chance to sit down with Kelly, but agreed to appear on both "Fox and Friends" and "Hannity."
According to Cillizza "right around the same time" of the magazine story, Trump tweeted:
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
Will be interviewed by @seanhannity tonight for the full hour. Hope you enjoy it and, more importantly, hope you agree!
12:29 PM - 11 Aug 2015
"An hour-long, primetime sitdown with Sean Hannity… amounts to Ailes' olive branch to Trump," Cizzilla writes.
"[A]n hour with Hannity is something any of the other Republicans running for president would do almost anything for," Cillizza writes, adding: "All he had to do was to go after one of the network's star primetime anchors and rising stars."
"Donald Trump has done a lot of things I thought were impossible in the course of this campaign," Cillizza writes. "Staring down Fox News and winning might be his most amazing feat yet."
The victory was also hailed as Fox News' "unconditional surrender" by Josh Marshall, the editor and publisher of the liberal website Talking Points Memo.
"We were told it was a fight Trump could never win — a picked battle with the most trust[ed] institution in conservative America: Fox News," he writes, adding:
"And yet here we have it: Fox's unconditional surrender."
"[T]he 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."
Meanwhile, Kelly addressed the controversy Monday night at the opening of her show, "The Kelly File."
"Mr. Trump is an interesting man who has captured the attention of the electorate. That's why he is leading in the polls," she continued. "Trump, who is the front-runner, will not apologize, and I certainly will not apologize for doing good journalism."
