trump v fox

Is Fox News fair to Donald Trump? Was his decision to withdraw from the latest Fox News debate for Republican Party Presidential nominee candidates, justified? Trump had expressed repeated reservations about the selection of Fox host Megyn Kelly as a moderator at the debate. His decision not to attend the proceedings apparently came after Fox issued a mocking press release directed solely at him, that contained the following: "We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet him if he becomes President - a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings."

1. Fox News is a brash slightly tabloidish network which those of us of a principled disposition tend to look to for a fairer hearing than is available on the bankrupt liberal atheistic abortionist left wing Muslim appeaser broadcasters CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, the BBC and Sky, et al. Particularly Al. I hate him.

2. Fox is not really a conservative or principled station. It is a commercial enterprise whose business model is to be fairer to Americans of principle than other networks are. Although its reputation is as a right wing entity, it is owned and controlled by the Australian media baron Rupert Murdock who also controls the left wing British and European news network Sky, In addition Murdock and his family own the Wall Street Journal, the Times of London newspaper and sundry other media entities. The wheel is rigged and it's the only game in town. I have suggested that the Murdock's News International company should be broken up under anti trust legislation following the discovery that News Corp in Britain was routinely bribing police officers, subverting politicians (again through bribery) and hacking the phones of private citizens. I believe the threat implicit in the Murdocks owning so many news outlets far exceeds the threat which had arisen the last time anti trust legislation was invoked to smash an international monopoly, ie when the Hunt ramily tried to corner the market in silver a hundred years ago.

3. Fox has many presenters of insight and ability though its dress style for its women employees, with short skirts, high heels and thunder thighs waving in the camera, is unseemly.

4. Presenter Sean Hannity, whose hall mark is a certain gruff gregarious decency, is an enthusiast for Donald Trump's campaign for the Republican Party Presidential nomination. Hannity seems to appreciate the ideas, vitality, honest discourse, drama and sheer chutzpah which Mr Trump has injected into the race. He also seems to enjoy the classically American quality of Trump's emergence as a candidate and sudden surge in popularity across the nation. Fox has extended to Hannity a significant measure of editorial control over what he says on air about Mr Trump, ie he's been left free to say whatever he likes.

5. Presenter Bret Baier is in my view, partisan in his opposition to Mr Trump.

6. The three man panel routinely featured on Bret Baier's programme is consistently partisan in opposition to Mr Trump. One of these regular panel members Charles Krauthammer, a very capable commentator, seems to be nursing a grudge against Trump. He has an excuse having been mildly mauled by Trump after an early criticism in the campaign.

7. The flagship programme styled The Five features one clear Trump fan, Eric Bolling, among its five regular presenters. Kimberly Guilfoyle is fair to Trump. Dana Perino, Greg Gutfeld and Juan Williams are partisanly hostile to Trump.

8. Megyn Kelly is partisan against Trump. Her guests and panels are almost uniformly hostile to Trump. Like Krauthammer she has an excuse. Trump's criticism of her line of questioning at a previous debate may have been excessive. However her leaked comments about Trump in a forthcoming magazine interview seem mischievous, irresponsible and unmerited. Mr Trump has a wife and family, Loose talk without any substance about him trying to woo her seems unacceptable to me. It was unacceptable to Trump too. She was his initial excuse for floating a possible withdrawal from the latest Fox News Presidential debate. The above cited press release from Fox seems to have been the last straw.

9. Bill O'Reilly's programme is fair enough to Trump.

10. Greta Van Susteren who eschews the Fox dress code compelling women to wave their thighs in the camera, and is one of the more professional broadcasters at the station, is scrupulously fair to Trump.

11. Fox Contributor Laura Ingraham, another broadcaster of merit who eschews the thunder thighs school of journalism, has some respect for Trump's courage and individuality. She is generally fair to him on those much too few occasions when she's on air.

12. Presenter Neil Cavuto is fair to Trump.

13. Regarding their internet coverage, I believe management at Fox News has deliberately downplayed the popularity of Trump in online reporting for several months. I would suggest there has been a policy, dating from his first spat with Megyn Kelly, to selectively deny him publicity.

14, Fox News on air television presentation of commentary re Trump remains fairly diverse. Megyn Kelly and Greg Baier do him no favours. But their partisan hostility is balanced somewhat by Hannity's enthusiasms and Greta Van Susteren's professionalism.

15. With Fox likely to turn more decisively against him, it's hard to see how Trump as a Presidential candidate will function with NO friends among the broadcasting pseudo elites.

16. It is exciting though.

17. Dramatic.

18. Vital and vitalising for democracy.

19. Pure Americana.

20. We have nothing like this in Ireland, Britain or Europe.