In a blistering news conference, Senator Ted Cruz ripped Fox News for its promotion of Donald Trump. But in what is probably a first, he also went after Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes in his rant.
Senator Ted Cruz, staring into the twilight of his presidential campaign, has blamed Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch and chief executive Roger Ailes for the success of Donald Trump.
“There is a broader dynamic at work, which is network executives have made a decision to get behind Donald Trump. Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes at Fox News have turned Fox News into the Donald Trump network,” Cruz told reporters at a press conference in Indiana.
[…]
Rupert Murdoch is used to picking world leaders in Australia and the United Kingdom running tabloids, and we’re seeing it here at home with the consequences for this nation,” Cruz said of the News Corp. and 21st Century Fox chairman.
We have posted about Cruz’ clash with Sean Hannity, in which he called out Hannity as a “hardcore” Trump supporter. But, to my knowledge, Cruz has never before gone after Fox management by name.
Of course, I agree with Cruz’s assessment. And I always appreciate somebody calling out Fox News bias. But why is he only just now caring?
Matt Lewis, of The Daily Caller, is not someone I ordinarily cite here. But his column today in Roll Call is spot on. In “Cruz Helped Create a Monster That’s About to Devour Him,” Lewis explained how Cruz was all for Trump before he was against him, no doubt calculating that “Trump would eventually flame out, allowing Cruz to swoop in and inherit all his supporters.”
“It’s hard not to find this a little amusing. After all, Ted Cruz helped create an environment where populist demagoguery would flourish on the right. Of course, he, no doubt, assumed he would be the beneficiary of this. He probably assumed the most ardent grassroots protesters on the right would be his supporters. He probably figured Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News would be in his back pocket.
He figured wrong. Not only would they not support him, they would play a major role in helping Trump."
Cruz seems to be at the end of the road for his presidential hopes. But the impact on Fox News is still an open question. Will the Cruz supporters continue to watch the “Donald Trump Network” or will they turn it off in disgust?
Stay tuned.
Politico noted that Greta Van Susteren has responded to Cruz in a blog post. In it, she refutes Cruz by saying that he has turned down numerous opportunities to appear on Fox. But she gave no consideration to the quality of coverage Trump has received. I think her headline speaks volumes: "I don’t know about 'Lyin’ Ted' but I do know about 'Doesn’t Tell The Whole Story Ted.'”
You can watch Cruz’s remarks below, via Politico.
Cruz caricature by DonkeyHotey via Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) License.
The once and powerful GOP has been reduced to ashes. It’s gone. Poof! Cruz, the poster child of conservatives, has been damaged by Trumpster.
Coming down the pipe:
1. The GOP Civil War takes another casualty.
2. The Foxies are losing their minds