Trump Campaign Statement on FOX News Debate

(New York, NY) January 26th, 2016 - As someone who wrote one of the best-selling business books of all time, The Art of the Deal, who has built an incredible company, including some of the most valuable and iconic assets in the world, and as someone who has a personal net worth of many billions of dollars, Mr. Trump knows a bad deal when he sees one. FOX News is making tens of millions of dollars on debates, and setting ratings records (the highest in history), where as in previous years they were low-rated afterthoughts.

Unlike the very stupid, highly incompetent people running our country into the ground, Mr. Trump knows when to walk away. Roger Ailes and FOX News think they can toy with him, but Mr. Trump doesn’t play games. There have already been six debates, and according to all online debate polls including Drudge, Slate, Time Magazine, and many others, Mr. Trump has won all of them, in particular the last one. Whereas he has always been a job creator and not a debater, he nevertheless truly enjoys the debating process - and it has been very good for him, both in polls and popularity.

He will not be participating in the FOX News debate and will instead host an event in Iowa to raise money for the Veterans and Wounded Warriors, who have been treated so horribly by our all talk, no action politicians. Like running for office as an extremely successful person, this takes guts and it is the kind mentality our country needs in order to Make America Great Again.

Link:

• Trump Campaign Statement on FOX News Debate

Megyn Kelly’s Emotional Interview With Dr. Paul Gondreau, Dad of Disabled Boy Embraced by Pope Francis

(Fox News) The moving images of this Easter Sunday moment at the Vatican have spread around the world over the last few days. Greeting followers in St. Peter’s Square from the “Popemobile,” Pope Francis called for 8-year-old Dominic Gondreau, who suffers from cerebral palsy, to be raised up to him. He proceeded to hug Dominic, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Paul Gondreau, a theology professor at Providence College, had traveled with his wife and children to Rome to teach for a semester. He was shocked to see his son in the arms of the newly elected pontiff, and he shared the amazing experience with Megyn Kelly on America Live.

Gondreau said he was seated with his four other children further away from the pope. Dominic and his mother, Christina, had been summoned earlier by the Swiss Guards to move into a closer seating area with other disabled children.

Gondreau said one of his other sons pointed out what was happening, telling him it was actually Dominic that was being held by Pope Francis.

“(My son) said the pope is holding Dominic! That’s when I looked up at the Jumbotron and beheld this grand moment and was immediately moved to tears with my son. I will cherish that memory forever,” he said.

Watch the emotional interview:

Part 2

Link:

• Megyn Kelly’s Emotional Interview With Dr. Paul Gondreau, Dad of Disabled Boy Embraced by Pope Francis

Krauthammer: 'Biden’s Debate Prep Was Watching The Shining'

By Noel Sheppard

(NewsBusters)  "One would think that Biden’s debate preparation was watching repeatedly 'The Shining,' and I think he did an excellent imitation of Jack Nicholson."

So marvelously said syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer on Friday's Special Report on Fox.

Link:

• Krauthammer: 'Biden’s Debate Prep Was Watching The Shining' - 'Excellent Imitation of Jack Nicholson' 

Related:

• Angry old man yells at Paul Ryan for 90 minutes
• Jack Nicholson on Abortion

We're Seeing The Collapse Of The Obama Policy On The Muslim World

(Real Clear Politics) "What we are seeing on the screen is the meltdown, collapse of the Obama policy on the Muslim world," Charles Krauthammer said on the panel segment of FOX News' "Special Report" tonight. "The irony is that it began in Cairo, in the same place where the speech he made in the beginning of his presidency in which he said, you wanted a new beginning with mutual respect, implying under the other presidents, particularly Bush, there was a lack of mutual respect. Which was an insult to the United States, which had gone to war six times in the last 20 years on behalf of oppressed Muslims, in Kuwait, in Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere."

"So to imply that we somehow had mistreated Muslims which was the premise of his speech and how the Iraq War had inflamed the Arab world against us. Well there was no storming of the U.S. embassy in Cairo in those days," the FOX News contributor and syndicated columnist said.

"What we're seeing now is al-Qaedaistan developing in Libya, meltdown of our relations with Egypt, you have riots in Yemen, attacks on our embassy in Tunisia. This entire premise that we want to be loved and respected, we'll apologize, has now yielded all of these results and these are the fruits of apology and retreat and lack of confidence in our own principles," Krauthammer concluded.

Link:

•  "We're Seeing The "Collapse Of The Obama Policy On The Muslim World"

DNC God & Jerusalem Vote Results Were on Villaraigosa's Teleprompter: "Two-thirds having voted in the affirmative.."

by Greta Van Susteren

Picture snapped and emailed to me by a colleague from the “clarification” process

Related:

• Is this a cynical move or what? Whatever the Dems did, it was sly.
• "You've gotta rule..." Villaraigosa Told to Steamroll DNC Delegates Who Voted No; Update: The Fix Was In 

Rupert Murdoch: Scientologists ‘creepy, maybe even evil’

 Rupert Murdoch delivers a keynote address on education reform in San Francisco on Oct. 14, 2011. (AP)
 

Rupert Murdoch, New Corp. chief executive and outspoken octogenarian media mogul, took to Twitter on Sunday to weigh in on the breakup of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. And Murdoch's tweets about Scientology sparked a big backlash.

"Scientology back in news," Murdoch tweeted. "Very weird cult, but big, big money involved with Tom Cruise either number two or three in [hierarchy]."

The owner of Fox News, Wall Street Journal and New York Post followed the "cult" comment with another tweet.

"Watch Katie Holmes and Scientology story develop," Murdoch wrote. "Something creepy, maybe even evil, about these people."

While Cruise is often associated with Viacom's Paramount Pictures, the Los Angeles Times noted, he has also starred in films for 20th Century Fox--the studio owned by News Corporation--and is "known for being prickly about being challenged about his involvement with Scientology."

Murdoch, though, is standing by his comments.

"Since Scientology tweet hundreds of attacks," he wrote later. "Expect they will increase and get worse and maybe threatening. Still stick to my story."

After a user asked Murdoch for his thoughts on Mormonism, he responded: "Mormonism a mystery to me, but Mormons certainly not evil."

Earlier Sunday, Murdoch used Twitter to criticize Mitt Romney's campaign.

"Met Romney last week," Murdoch wrote. President Obama's reelection campaign--comprised of "tough" Chicago political veterans--will be tough to beat, Murdoch added, unless Romney "drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. Doubtful."

It's not the first time the 81-year-old has expressed his doubts about Romney's electability. Last week, Murdoch tweeted: "When is Romney going to look like a challenger? Seems to play everything safe, make no news except burn off Hispanics."

Link:

• Rupert Murdoch: Scientologists ‘creepy, maybe even evil’

Newt Gingrich Issues Statement on Santorum’s Departure, Tells Mike Huckabee He’ll ‘Finally Get to Be 1-on-1 With Romney’

Reuters Pictures

(Fox News Insider) Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was just on the Mike Huckabee Radio show, and commented on Santorum suspending his own presidential campaign just moments ago. On the show, Gingrich discussed finally getting to be ’1-on-1′ with Romney, how he will campaign going forward, and a possible debate in North Carolina with the current front-runner.

Below are some highlights from Huckabee’s interview with Gingrich:

“I did not get a heads up in advance. We have been talking for two weeks, and I knew this was a real possibility in his mind. I do know that he had begun to realize that when you are up against all of Wall Street, it is very difficult. The money machine makes it difficult to have a competitive race.”

“I am not focused on going after Romney; I want to focus on the issues and Barack Obama. I will admit it was a slugging match in Florida; people who like me don’t want me down in the gutter. We will see what Governor Romney decides. I am going to focus on the Republican platform and why Obama is a grave threat to this country.”

AP Photo

“Our folks are making calls to undecideds and those for Rick [Santorum]; we have been talking to someone in North Carolina, and there may be a debate [...] between Romney and me. I would like to have an open dialogue – just the two of us, a chat.”

Here is the full statement released by Gingrich’s press secretary:

“New Bern, NC – Newt Gingrich released the following statement reacting to Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum suspending his campaign:

“Rick has waged a remarkable campaign. His success is a testament to his tenacity and the power of conservative principles.

“I am committed to staying in this race all the way to Tampa so that the conservative movement has a real choice. I humbly ask Senator Santorum’s supporters to visit Newt.org to review my conservative record and join us as we bring these values to Tampa. We know well that only a conservative can protect life, defend the Constitution, restore jobs and growth and return to a balanced budget.”"

• Link

Fox News 'course correction' rankles some

Roger Ailes is presiding over a shift toward the center at Fox News. | Reuters

By KEACH HAGEY

(Politico)  As a white, male, middle-aged conservative talk radio host from Virginia, John Fredericks is something close to the Platonic ideal of a Fox News fan.

And until last year, he was one. But then Fox’s treatment of the Republican primary race — the presentation of Karl Rove as a political analyst despite his having “thrown in for Romney” and Sean Hannity’s clear ties to the Republican establishment — began to grate on him. So he changed the channel.

“I’ve gone from all Fox to no Fox, and replaced it with CNN, which I think right now is giving me a much fairer analysis of what’s going on,” he said. “I feel they’ve lost that independent conservative mantra that had drove people like me to them. I used to feel that I got it straight, and I got an independent conservative view. Now, what I get is some wholly owned subsidiary of the RNC [Republican National Committee].”

Across the Conservative Political Action Conference this year, there were similar grumbles among conservative activists that the cable channel was no longer speaking for them as it once did.

The grumblers were picking up on a strategy that has been under way for some time — a “course correction,” as Fox chief Roger Ailes put it last fall — with the network distancing itself from the tea party cheerleading that characterized the first two years of President Barack Obama’s presidency. Lately, Fox has increasingly promoted its straight-news talent in the press and conducted some of the toughest interviews and debates of the Republican primary season. Just last week, it hired the openly gay liberal activist Sally Kohn as a contributor.

All along, Fox watchers warned that it risked alienating conservative true believers as it inched toward the center.

Well, consider them alienated.

“To tell you the truth, a lot of conservatives see Fox News as being somewhat skewed on certain issues,” said Patrick Brown, who runs Internet marketing for The Western Center for Journalism, a conservative nonprofit that features stories questioning the president’s eligibility for office. “We actually did a poll recently that said, ‘Is Fox News actually conservative, or has it moved left?’ And some 70 percent of our readers thought it had moved left.”

“Left” is, of course, a relative term.

A casual Fox viewer might barely notice the changes since the network remains critical of the Obama administration and reliably conservative opinion voices, like Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, still anchor key spots in the Fox firmament. But the changes are there...

Now, changes have begun to surface in its opinion programming, too. Last week, O’Reilly invited onto his show a gay-rights activist to weigh in on Roland Martin’s controversial tweets during the Super Bowl.

O’Reilly and Martin may be old foes, but the spectacle of watching O’Reilly, who once compared gay marriage to interspecies marriage, attacking a CNN anchor for being insufficiently sensitive to the feelings of gay people was quite a switch from the tone of two years ago. O’Reilly also stuck up for Ellen DeGeneres last week, suggesting that those who opposed her new role as spokeswoman for JC Penney because she is gay were not acting in “the spirit of America.”

Viewers are noticing, as the survey by Brown’s group, The Western Center for Journalism, picked up. The center was co-founded by Joseph Farah, the WorldNetDaily founder and publisher of last year’s big birther book, and is now run by Floyd Brown, a co-founder of Citizens United and best known for producing the “Willie Horton” ad.

But what is interesting is that the survey found Fox viewers felt the change in Fox had come relatively recently. And that they were far from alone.

Cliff Kincaid, president of America’s Survival, had a whole booth at CPAC dedicated to questioning Fox’s programming choices, complete with “Bring Back Beck” buttons and bumper stickers.

“What happened is they buckled under pressure from George Soros and his operatives to get rid of Glenn Beck,” said Kincaid, who wants Beck back on the air so he can continue his “investigative journalism” into Soros’s influence on the media.

He said that pressure went beyond the $1 million that Soros gave Media Matters in October 2010 “to hold Fox News accountable.”

“We talked to a private investigator who interviewed representatives or employees of News Corporation about the threats and intimidation against them for going after Soros,” he said.

But Kincaid’s beef with Fox went beyond Beck.

He complained that the channel had recently hired “two far-left radical feminists,” Jehmu Greene and Kohn, who were “graduates of Jane Fonda’s Women’s Media Center.”

“Fox became successful by filling that void and becoming a platform for conservative voices,” he said. “If they want to watch Jehmu Greene or Sally Kohn, they can turn on MSNBC...”

Read More

FOX News Disses Charles Kauthammer After Newt Wins South Carolina

Newt owns Juan Williams for race-baiting question

• From The Right Scoop

Sarah Palin: Newt Gingrich Won Vegas Face-Off, Would "Clobber" Obama In A Debate

From Real Clear Politics:

Former Alaska governor Palin discussed the latest GOP debate, the candidates and momentum and more on FOX News' "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren."

"I think we (Republicans) are more interested in substance and that's why like tonight Newt Gingrich again I think did the best because he seems to be above a lot of the bickering that goes on," Sarah Palin told FOX News after tonight's CNN debate in Las Vegas.

Everybody could learn from Newt Gingrich and the way his calm, cool, collected manner. He's kind of seen it all before in this political game, if you will," Palin said about Gingrich's debate skills.

"Newt Gingrich would -- he would clobber Barack Obama in any debate, any forum that had to do with substance when it comes to policy and solutions for the challenges that America faces. Newt Gingrich would clobber Barack Obama. I don't know if he's going to be the one that surfaces as the fortunate candidate who gets to face Barack Obama because unfortunately, in this day and age, sometimes conventional wisdom would dictate that he who has the most money, the campaign dollars, wins. I don't want to believe that this is going to be the case this go-around," Palin said about a debate between Gingrich and Obama. (end)

I recall this from 2008 - Newt responding to an MSNBC reporter when asked about Sarah Palin's experience:

Newt Gingrich Takes on Chris Wallace