New York Magazine ran a piece on the Roger Ailes controversy but outed Rupert Murdoch on his effort to take down Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump. If you’re like me, you’ve wondered what the heck is going on with the anchors at FOX. It’s been an all-out bash-fest on Trump…here’s why:

“If the hierarchy within the Republican Party loses an election to Democrats it’s only a lost election; they are still there, and still comfortable even in the minority. However, if the hierarchy within the Republican Party loses an election to Conservatives, they are out of a job” – Mark Levin


Murdoch was not a fan of Trump’s and especially did not like his stance on immigration. (The antipathy was mutual: “Murdoch’s been very bad to me,” Trump told me in March.)

A few days before the first GOP debate on Fox in August 2015, Murdoch called Ailes at home. “This has gone on long enough,” Murdoch said, according to a person briefed on the conversation.

Murdoch told Ailes he wanted Fox’s debate moderators — Kelly, Bret Baier, and Chris Wallace — to hammer Trump on a variety of issues. Ailes, understanding the GOP electorate better than most at that point, likely thought it was a bad idea. “Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee,” Ailes told a colleague around this time. But he didn’t fight Murdoch on the debate directive.

On the night of August 6, in front of 24 million people, the Fox moderators peppered Trump with harder-hitting questions. But it was Kelly’s question regarding Trump’s history of crude comments about women that created a media sensation. He seemed personally wounded by her suggestion that this spoke to a temperament that might not be suited for the presidency. “I’ve been very nice to you, though I could probably maybe not be based on the way you have treated me,” he said pointedly.

Read more: Conservative Treehouse

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