In the latest episode in the drama that is the Trump campaign, Trump asserts he will indefinitely not appear on Fox News citing unfair coverage. This of course is a renewal of the feud where Trump claimed that he was treated unfairly in the first Presidential debate, particularly by Fox’s Megyn Kelly who questioned Trump regarding his comments about women. He initially boycotted Fox, but then claimed he had a conversation with his “good friend” Roger Ailes, CEO of Fox News, and that the issue was resolved.
Later, when Megyn Kelly returned from vacation, he lashed out at her on Twitter criticizing the show and saying “The bimbo is back.” Fox publicly stood by Kelly and attacked Trump’s comments. Trump agreed to lower the vitriol of his Twitter comments and resumed appearances on “friendly” shows – Greta Van Susteren’s “On the Record” and Sean Hannity’s “Hannity.”
Despite Trump’s promise to turn down the volume, he continued to attack Megyn Kelly, Fox cancelled a Trump appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show “The O’Reilly Factor” and issued this statement:
“At 11:45am today, we canceled Donald Trump’s scheduled appearance on The O’Reilly Factor on Thursday, which resulted in Mr. Trump’s subsequent tweet about his ‘boycott’ of FOX News,” the statement reads. “The press predictably jumped to cover his tweet, creating yet another distraction from any real issues that Mr. Trump might be questioned about. When coverage doesn’t go his way, he engages in personal attacks on our anchors and hosts, which has grown stale and tiresome. He doesn’t seem to grasp that candidates telling journalists what to ask is not how the media works in this country.”
Trump has continued tweets on Twitter criticizing media coverage of him and his comments – especially Fox – and claims that he is the one boycotting them.
While Trump has been masterful at getting himself in the news, this tactic is stale and old. His numbers are in decline and no amount of whining will change that. Van Susteren and Hannity completely pandered to him, giving him mountains of free coverage almost nightly. Others at Fox were not as enamored by Trump and objectively reported on Trump – which he viewed as “unfair coverage.”
It’s time to move past the summer of silliness and get down to the business of selecting a serious candidate. A candidate who cries every time someone doesn’t speak well of him isn’t serious. It’s time to get past the reality show and get back to reality.