Trump Enlists Former Fox News Chairmen as Political Advisor

A recent recruit for Donald Trump’s campaign comes from a former enemy. Trump has repeatedly targeted the media for berating his every move, so it comes as a surprise that Roger Ailes, the one-time chairman of Fox news, has sidled up Trump during his campaign. Mr. Ailes is not a novice in advising, and in fact has some expertise in advising for political discourse specifically. Mr. Ailes has aided several candidates for various forms of office.

Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush received debate advice from the former Fox chairman, although Bush was running for Vice President and debating against Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts. Reagan’s now famous debate quote about his age apparently came from Mr. Ailes during a preparation session for the debate against Vice President Walter F. Mondale in 1984. Reagan responded to the question of age with “I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

While Mr. Ailes has been politically active and adept, he affixes to Trump his sexual harassment allegations which initially caused him to step down from Fox news. Trump has already faced a mammoth amount of sexism charges, and Mr. Ailes only adds to this. Even more conflict arises when speaking about Megyn Kelly, a Fox News host. Ms. Kelly was called out by Trump for discriminating against him during the Republican primary debates. Trump went so far as to insinuate that Ms. Kelly’s menstrual cycle had something to do with her disposition, causing part of the commenting on Trump’s sexism. Since Ms. Kelly works for Fox News, there appears to be a conflict of interest, but perhaps Mr. Ailes leaving the station with 40 million dollars in deals has soured that. It is unknown exactly how Trump will use Mr. Ailes to prepare with his September 26 debate with Hillary Clinton. Trump did not fare well against the female republican nominee, Carly Fiorina and of course dealing with Ms. Kelly, so it’s undecided if Mr. Ailes can do anything to redeem Trump’s sometimes acid view.

Featured Image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore