UPDATE Aug. 10, 2015: It appears Trump and Fox News have indeed patched up their differences.
On Tuesday, the real estate mogul will join both “Fox and Friends” and “Hannity” for exclusive interviews. The scheduled appearances come shortly after a network blackout following last week’s GOP primary debate.
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Former reality TV star Donald Trump appears to have made peace with Fox News.
“Roger Ailes just called. He is a great guy & assures me that ‘Trump’ will be treated fairly on [Fox News],” the 2016 Republican presidential candidate tweeted Monday morning, referring to the network’s president. “His word is always good!”
Roger Ailes just called. He is a great guy & assures me that “Trump” will be treated fairly on @FoxNews. His word is always good!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2015
Trump has spent the last few days attacking Fox News and its top talent, most especially Megyn Kelly, following the first GOP primary debate last Thursday. During the debate, Kelly asked Trump a series of pointed questions about remarks he has made about women.
“You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,'” she started.
Trump interjected to say, “Only Rosie O’Donnell.”
Kelly continued, saying, “For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O’Donnell. You once told a contestant on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees.”
“Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president, and how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who is likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?” she asked.
The real estate mogul mostly avoided her question and instead launched into a tirade about “political correctness.”
Trump may have felt that he whiffed in his response to Kelly, because he complained to reporters immediately after the debate that he had been treated unfairly by the moderators, including Bret Baier and Chris Wallace.
“The questions to me were far tougher, and that I, supposedly, according to what everyone’s telling me, I won the debate, according to the call-ins and everything,” he said, according to Buzzfeed News. “But the questions to me were not nice, I didn’t think they were appropriate, and I think Megyn behaved very badly personally.”
“They weren’t even questions, they were statements that they asked,” he added.
Trump didn’t let up there: His Twitter account then launched into a lengthy criticism of Kelly late Thursday night, accusing the Fox host of “bombing” and being “unprofessional.”
Referring to Trump’s loud griping, Rupert Murdoch, executive chairman of Fox News Channel’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, stood by the network’s talent, remarking on social media, “Baier, Kelly, Wallace great job Thursday. Fine journalism, no more, no less. Friend Donald has to learn this is public life.”
But Trump kept at it, taking his frustrations to various cable shows Friday morning.
“I walked out of that room and people were saying that was really unfair,” Trump said in a “Morning Joe” phone interview, adding that he was “very surprised at Fox News.”
Later, and more controversially, Trump seemingly suggested during an interview with CNN that Kelly had asked him difficult questions because she was menstruating.
“She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions,” Trump said. “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her … wherever.”
The real estate mogul denies he implied that Kelly was menstruating, asserting repeatedly that only a “deviant” would take his remarks to mean that.
