Category: Conflict Averse

Donald Trump Attacks US Media at 100-Day Pennsylvania Rally

US President Donald Trump has launched a scathing attack on the media during a rally marking 100 days in office.

He told supporters in Pennsylvania that he was keeping “one promise after another”, dismissing criticism as “fake news” by “out of touch” journalists.

Mr Trump decided to skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – the first US leader to miss the annual event since Ronald Reagan in 1981.

Earlier, big rallies were held against Mr Trump’s climate change policies.

At the rally in Harrisburg, the president said the media should be given “a big, fat, failing grade” over their coverage of his achievements during his first 100 days and told the cheering crowd he was “thrilled to be more than 100 miles from Washington”.

He quipped that at the same time “a large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling themselves” at the correspondents’ dinner “that will be very boring”.

Until now, late president Ronald Reagan was the last US leader to miss the dinner, as he was recovering from a gunshot wound in 1981.

Turning to his election pledges, Mr Trump said the first 100 days had been “very exciting and very productive”.

He said he was “delivering every single day” by:

  • Ending “jobs theft” and bringing them back to the US
  • Easing regulations on energy exploration
  • Ending the so-called “war on coal”
  • Pulling out of international agreements not beneficial to the US, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership

Mr Trump also said the administration of Barack Obama had resulted in “a mess”, stressing that he was ready for “great battles to come and we will win in every case”.

On climate change, Mr Trump said “a big decision” would be taken within the next two weeks.

He earlier described climate change as a hoax, vowing to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement.

(h/t BBC News)

Reality

Trump usually runs away from criticism, like when he skipped a Fox News debate after receiving tough questions from moderator Megyn Kelly about his improper treatment of women.

Trump Will Be First POTUS to Skip White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Over 30 Years

President Donald Trump is skipping this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, he announced Saturday on Twitter, offering without any explanation: “Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!”

Slated to take place April 29, the annual dinner is traditionally attended by the president, first lady, members of the administration, the White House press corps and numerous media outlets. Proceeds raised by the dinner go toward scholarships and awards for aspiring journalists.

The gathering is typically hosted by a noted comedian who roasts the president and members of the media, and then lets the commander in chief crack his own jokes.

A number of publications — including Bloomberg, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair — have joined a growing list of news organizations that refused to host parties around the ceremonies, citing the president’s baseless claims that longstanding media organizations are spreading “fake news” or are “the enemy of the American people.”

The announcement comes after the president and his administration continue to maintain a public feud with the press and blocked multiple media organizations from attending an impromptu daily briefing with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Friday.

CNN, The New York Times and Politico were not able to attend the off-camera press gaggle with Spicer, while conservative media organizations were shown preference by the administration.

The White House Correspondents’ Association responded shortly after Trump tweeted and said they still planned to have the dinner despite his absence.

“The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trump’s announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic,” association President Jeff Mason said in a statement.

“We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession,” he added.

White House Strategist Steve Bannon told Conservative Political Action Conference attendees on Thursday that Trump would continue to attack the media, which Bannon described as “corporatist,” “globalist” and members of “the opposition party.”

Late-night comedy host Samantha Bee announced that she would host a dinner at the same night and time to compete with the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in protest of the Trump administration. Named “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” all proceeds raised will be donated to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Trump attended the dinner in 2011 when Barack Obama was president and was roasted by the then-president.

The first White House Correspondents’ Dinner occurred in 1921, and the first president attended — Calvin Coolidge — in 1924. Fifteen presidents have attended since.

Ronald Reagan was the last president to skip the dinner, according to the Reagan Library. In 1981, the newly elected president decided he wouldn’t attend because he was recovering from a gunshot wound in a failed assassination attempt on his life less than a month earlier.

Nevertheless, Reagan still called in to provide a few remarks.

“If I could give you just one little bit of advice,” Reagan quipped over the phone, “when somebody tells you to get in a car quick, do it.”

(h/t NBC News)

 

 

 

Fox Says Trump Wanted $5 Million Donation

Fox News logo

Fox News Channel accused Donald Trump of asking the network for a $5 million donation as a “quid pro quo” in return for Trump’s promise to appear in Thursday night’s Republican debate, as an extraordinary feud between the right’s best-known media platform and the Republican party’s presidential front-runner overshadowed the last debate before the Iowa caucuses.

“Roger Ailes had three brief conversations with Donald Trump today about possibly appearing at the debate – there were not multiple calls placed by Ailes to Trump.

 

In the course of those conversations, we acknowledged his concerns about a satirical observation we made in order to quell the attacks on Megyn Kelly, and prevent her from being smeared any further.

 

Furthermore, Trump offered to appear at the debate upon the condition that Fox News contribute $5 million to his charities. We explained that was not possible and we could not engage in a quid pro quo, nor could any money change hands for any reason.

 

We have accomplished those two goals and we are pleased with the outcome. We’re very proud to have her on stage as a debate moderator alongside Bret Baier & Chris Wallace.”

(h/t Chicago Tribune)

Reality

By shaking down Fox News for $5 million dollars in order to appear at their debate Donald Trump just committed a crime.

It’s also ironic that Trump refused to attend the debate by accusing Megyn Kelly of having a conflict of interest.

Trump Claims He Never Asked Megyn Kelly Removed As Moderator

If you read the news, Donald Trump’s boycott of the Fox News/Google debate is the result of his ongoing war with anchor Megyn Kelly.

Trump, however, says that’s not true. He says a biting Fox News release is why he pulled the plug.

“Well, I’m not a person that respects Megyn Kelly very much. I think she’s highly overrated. Other than that, I don’t care,” he told CNN an hour before the debate. “I never once asked that she be removed. I don’t care about her being removed. What I didn’t like was that public relations statement where they were sort of taunting. I didn’t think it was appropriate. I didn’t think it was nice.”

(h/t Politifact)

Reality

Donald Trump many times publicly demanded removal of Megyn Kelly as a moderator as a condition to attend the Fox News debate in Iowa.

Media

Full video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMSfucArxVo

 

 

Donald Trump Throws a Grand Old Party to Avoid a Debate

No one ever really doubted that Donald Trump could pull off a major counter-programing feat — even when competing with a GOP debate that was expected to draw millions of viewers.

He did it Thursday night, dazzling a crowd of hundreds of enthusiastic supporters by announcing that he had raised more than $6 million for veterans in one day — $1 million of it from his own checkbook. “We love our vets,” he said.

“You know, my whole theme is make America great again and that’s what we’re going to do — and we wouldn’t have even been here if it weren’t for our vets,” Trump said.

Even Trump seemed a bit surprised that he had pulled off his stunt: “Look at all the cameras. This is like the Academy Awards,” the real estate magnate said as he took the stage in an auditorium at Drake University about 20 minutes after the debate began a few miles away. “We’re actually told that we have more cameras than they do by quite a bit, and you know what that’s really in honor of our vets.”

The rally was a restrained performance by Trump standards. He dispensed with his usual riff about his poll numbers and mostly avoided jabs at his fellow candidates (with the exception of a “low-energy” shot at Jeb Bush).

Instead he delivered a speech mostly focused on the problems veterans have faced when returning from Iraq and Afghanistan — inadequate healthcare and housing, drug abuse, mental health issues and homelessness.

“Our vets are being mistreated. Illegal immigrants are treated better in many cases than our vets and it’s not going to happen any more. It’s not going to happen any more.”

Clearly enjoying his evening away from the debate, Trump also told the audience what could be another media sensation for his campaign: the fact that his daughter Ivanka is pregnant. “Ivanka, I said, it would be so great if you had your baby in Iowa. It would be so great — I’d definitely win!”

(h/t CNN)

Reality

Trump lost Iowa. He acknowledged that this event may have backfired. Voters in the Hawkeye State take their responsibly of being first seriously, and the debate that Trump skipped was the final, and critically important, debate ahead of the caucuses. “I think some people were disappointed that I didn’t go into the debate,” Trump said while in New Hampshire.

The fact is Trump did not attend the seventh Republican debate and instead hosted a rival event due to his intense fear of Megyn Kelly and the hilarious response by Fox News that mocked his inability to handle simple questions from reporters.

Trump was also criticized by also overselling the event and not managing it well. According to a statement by Drake University, the location for Trump’s Thursday night event, the auditorium is limited to a 700-person capacity, but the event had been “significantly over-ticketed by the Trump campaign.”

It is important to note that in 2012 when Michelle Bachmann skipped a debate hosted by Newsmax, someone had some choice critical words for her:

On the plus side, Trump raised a very impressive $6 million dollars for veterans. Or did he?

Media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jWb1v8lnjw

 

Trump Blames Fox News For Skipping Debate

Bill O'Reilly attempts to convince Donald Trump to addend Fox News Iowa debate.

Fox News host Bill O’Reilly told Donald Trump that he’s making a “big mistake” by skipping Thursday’s GOP debate. But Trump is not budging.

O’Reilly pleaded with Trump to reconsider, even invoking Trump’s Christian faith and the tenet of forgiveness to say that Trump should forgive Megyn Kelly for tough questioning.

Trump responded by bringing up the “eye for an eye” principle.

The GOP frontrunner is planning to hold a “special event” to raise money for veterans at the same time Fox hosts the final primary debate before Monday’s Iowa caucuses.

“We’re going to have a tremendous event,” Trump said, adding that “a lot of money is going to be raised.”

O’Reilly seemed to be lobbying Trump on behalf of the network, even going so far as to say that “I don’t think not showing up for debate tomorrow is good for America.”

At the end of the conversation, he asked Trump to reconsider the 24-hour-old boycott.

“Consider it,” the host said.

Trump shot back that “you and I had an agreement that you wouldn’t ask me that.”

And he declined to reconsider. Then he plugged his 9 p.m. fund-raising event at Drake University.

He criticized Kelly on Fox just an hour before Kelly’s own show. “I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly,” Trump said. “I don’t think she is very good at what she does. I think she is highly overrated.”

O’Reilly did little to defend Kelly.

For days Trump has been calling Kelly “biased” and claiming she shouldn’t be allowed to moderate the debate. On Tuesday, after he taunted Kelly in an Instagram video and polled his Twitter followers about whether he should skip the debate, Fox fired off a statement that dripped with mockery.

He emphasized to Fox’s Bill O’Reilly that it was ultimately the network’s disrespectful statements that led to his decision:

“I was not treated well by Fox. They came out with this ridiculous P.R. statement, it was like drawn up by a child. And there was a taunt. And I said, you know, “How much of this do you take?” I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly. I don’t think she’s very good at what she does. I think she’s highly overrated. And, frankly, she’s the moderator, I thought her question last time was ridiculous.”

(h/t CNN)

Reality

The evidence has mounted and it is clear that Trump is avoiding Megyn Kelly. If it is out of fear or spite, doesn’t matter they are both unpresidential.

Media

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4725365820001

Links

The O’Reilly Factor Transcript

 

Fox News Mocks Trump’s Latest ’Twitter Poll’ With First-Rate Trolling

Fox News has issued a statement responding to Donald Trump‘s conduct on social media, calling The Donald out for his timidity with what can only be described as trolling of the highest order.

Trump has said that he might not attend Fox News’s GOP Iowa debate because, he says, co-moderator Megyn Kelly isn’t “fair” to him. He took his grievances to Twitter and Instagram Tuesday afternoon, asking fans, “Should I do the GOP debate?”

Fox News responded in a statement given to Mediaite, saying:

We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president — a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.

In a similar statement released Monday, a Fox News spokesperson said the network was “surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly,” and suggesting that one day, the presidential candidate would have to learn that he doesn’t get to pick which journalists cover him.

Donald Trump tweeted his response later that afternoon, calling Fox News’s statement a “pathetic attempt” to build ratings:

(h/t Mediaite)

Reality

Trump has had an issue with Kelly since she moderated a Republican presidential debate in August. He accused her of being unfairly harsh on him by asking him valid questions about past sexist and misogynist comments. Fox News is standing by its anchor, calling the attacks on her “sexist verbal assaults.”

Trump Skips Iowa Debate

Donald Trump on Tuesday bowed out of the final Republican presidential debate before the leadoff Iowa caucuses, saying Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly is “a lightweight.”

With 48 hours to go before the faceoff, campaign manager Corey Lewandowski confirmed Trump’s decision Tuesday evening after a press conference in which Trump lashed out at Kelly and said she’d been “toying” with him.

“He will not be participating in the Fox News debate Thursday,” Lewandowski said immediately after the press conference.

Trump, who called his decision “pretty close to irrevocable” in the press conference, said he’d hold an Iowa event at the same time as the debate to raise money for wounded veterans. Iowa hosts the nation’s opening presidential primary contest on Monday.

“With me, they’re dealing with somebody that’s a little bit different. They can’t toy with me like they toy with everybody else,” he said. “Let them have their debate and let’s see how they do with the ratings.”

He added, “Why do I have to make Fox rich?”

Trump denied that he was afraid to debate, pointing out his participation and past performance, and reiterated his distaste for Kelly.

“This to me isn’t a reporter. This to me is just a lightweight. Megyn Kelly shouldn’t be in the debate. I don’t care about Megyn — when Megyn Kelly didn’t ask me a question, she made a statement last time, I thought it was inappropriate.”

On Tuesday night’s airing of her Fox News show, “The Kelly File,” Kelly said she’ll be at the debate, which will “go on with or without Mr. Trump.”

The Republican National Committee said the decision was up to Trump.

“Obviously we would love all of the candidates to participate, but each campaign ultimately makes their own decision what’s in their best interest,” said RNC chief strategist Sean Spicer.

Trump had suggested he might skip the Fox debate earlier in the day, drawing a sarcastic statement from the television network that “the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president.”

“A nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings,” the Fox statement said.

A Fox spokesman did not immediately respond to Trump’s decision.

The New York real estate mogul’s presence has helped produce massive ratings in the previous six Republican presidential debates. His decision leaves seven candidates to share the primetime stage Thursday: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

“Let them have their debate. I’m going to raise money during that period of time for the wounded warriors and for the vets. Let Fox play its games,” Trump said.

He added, “I don’t think Iowa’s gonna care.”

At the very least, the high-profile debate feud serves as a major distraction in the Republican contest just six days before Iowa voters cast the first votes in the 2016 primary contest.

Trump, now locked in a tight race with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, has proven to be a master of commanding media attention at key moments. Among other things, he has called for a temporary ban on all Muslim immigrants and later questioned Cruz’s presidential eligibility given that he was born in Canada.

The provocative declarations have often left little oxygen in the race for his opponents.

(h/t Yahoo News)

Reality

By skipping the debate Trump lost Iowa to Ted Cruz.

Trump has had an issue with Kelly since she moderated a Republican presidential debate in August. He accused her of being unfairly harsh on him by asking him valid questions about past sexist and misogynist comments. Fox News is standing by its anchor, with a statement calling the attacks on her “sexist verbal assaults.”

Fox, responded with another statement emphasizing Trump’s agenda against Kelly and alleging that Lewandowski had personally threatened the anchor:

“We’re not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage.”

It is important to note that in 2012 when Michelle Bachmann skipped a debate hosted by Newsmax, someone had some choice critical words for her:

Media

Trump’s Campaign Says He’ll Skip Iowa Debate

Moments after Fox News announced the lineup for Thursday’s Republican debate, Donald J. Trump said Tuesday that it was pretty “irrevocable” that he would skip the event, which takes place just days before the Iowa caucuses.

“Let’s see how much money Fox is going to make on the debate without me,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference here, where he continued to attack Megyn Kelly and the crew at Fox News, with whom he sparred at an earlier debate.

“It’s time that somebody plays grown-up,” he said.

Just after Mr. Trump started speaking, his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, confirmed that he would skip Thursday’s event, saying, “He will not be participating in the Fox News debate on Thursday” and that “it’s not under negotiation.”

Mr. Trump’s absence would leave the main debate stage without the candidate who leads in national polls, one who has been a big ratings draw for past debates. Mr. Trump has threatened in the past to skip debates, but his remarks Tuesday night were his strongest statement yet that he would not participate.

Fox News said Mr. Trump’s refusal to debate his rivals was “near unprecedented.”

“This is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage,” the network said in a statement.

“Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats, including the one leveled by Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski toward Megyn Kelly,” the statement continued. “In a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after that last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again.’ Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees.”

The drama capped an increasingly heated war of words involving Mr. Trump, Ms. Kelly and Fox News as the debate neared and as Mr. Trump found himself facing the prospect of being questioned by her again before a national audience.

Mr. Trump had lashed out against Ms. Kelly back in August over her questioning of him at a debate, when she asked if previous remarks he had made were a “part of the war on women.”

The clash between Mr. Trump and Fox News reignited over the last few weeks, as the network set out to defend Ms. Kelly from the repeated criticisms of Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump threw the first punch, tweeting that Ms. Kelly had a “conflict of interest” and “should not be allowed to be the moderator of the next debate.”

The network was quick to respond, saying: “Megyn Kelly has no conflict of interest. Donald Trump is just trying to build up the audience for Thursday’s debate, for which we thank him.”

He continued to accuse Ms. Kelly of journalistic malpractice and bias, before taking the criticisms personal in an interview with CNN on Monday.

“I don’t like her. She doesn’t treat me fairly. I’m not a big fan of hers at all,” Mr. Trump said in the interview.

Fox responded, again defending Ms. Kelly: “Sooner or later Donald Trump, even if he’s president, is going to have to learn that he doesn’t get to pick the journalists — we’re very surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly.”

But what seemed to really draw the ire of Mr. Trump was two statements put out by the network Tuesday morning. In one, Roger Ailes, the chairman and chief executive of Fox News, personally weighed in, saying in a statement that “Megyn Kelly is an excellent journalist and the entire network stands behind her — she will absolutely be on the debate stage on Thursday night.”

A statement from the network was even harsher, invoking President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Iran’s supreme leader: “We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president — a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.”

Mr. Trump alluded to those two statements in a news conference on Tuesday before an event here, calling them “wise guy” and adding, “I said bye-bye.” He did not mention his decision not to attend the debate at his two rallies in Iowa.

Mr. Lewandowski said that instead of attending Thursday’s debate, Mr. Trump would hold an event in Iowa, raising money for wounded soldiers in the state.

Mr. Trump’s main rival in various polls, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, accused Mr. Trump of chickening out of the debate.

“If Donald is afraid to defend his record, that speaks volumes,” he said, before alluding to Mr. Putin: “I promise you, Putin is a lot scarier than Megyn Kelly.”

Mr. Trump made his remarks about skipping the event right after the Fox News debate moderator Bret Baier announced the debate lineup on the program “Special Report.”

Another of Mr. Trump’s rivals, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, will rejoin the top tier of candidates on the stage Thursday, Fox News said, meaning eight candidates qualified to share the stage for the prime-time debate. Mr. Trump was to stand in the middle because he leads in polls nationally and in New Hampshire, and he is battling for the lead in Iowa polls against Mr. Cruz.

For Mr. Paul, who chose not to participate in the undercard debate this month after failing to make the cut for the later debate, the return to the main stage reflects a recent rise in his poll numbers, particularly in New Hampshire. His campaign sought to capitalize on the good news, fund-raising on Twitter after his inclusion was announced on Fox News.

Rounding out the top-tier field on Thursday are Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, Ben Carson, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.

(h/t New York Times)

Reality

It is important to note that in 2012 when Michelle Bachmann skipped a debate hosted by Newsmax, someone had some choice critical words for her:

Donald Trump Conducted Poll To Skip Fox News’ Debate

Donald Trump is polling his followers to figure out whether he should participate in Thursday’s Fox News debate.

Trump shared a Twitter poll with his followers asking if he should participate in the debate — considering that Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly will be one of the moderators.

In a corresponding Instagram video, Trump reiterated his criticism of Kelly’s supposed bias against him.

“Megyn Kelly is really biased against me. She knows that, I know that, everybody knows that,” Trump said. “Do you really think that she could be fair at a debate?”

Trump has participated in an on-again, off-again feud with Fox News and Kelly after she asked him a pointed question during the first GOP debate in August about his past comments directed at women. Trump suggested in a CNN interview Monday that he was unsure whether he would participate.

“I don’t think she can treat me fairly, actually. I think she’s very biased. And I don’t think she can treat me fairly. But that doesn’t mean I don’t do the debates. I like doing the debate. I’ve won every single debate, according to every poll,” he said.

Fox has brushed off Trump’s concerns, mocking the reality television star for his reluctance to participate in a debate moderated by Kelly.

In a statement to Business Insider, the network pointed out that the president needs to meet with world leaders who often do not treat the US fairly.

“We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president,” a Fox News spokesperson said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “A nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.”

On Monday, the network said it was “surprised” that the outspoken Republican front-runner appeared threatened by Kelly.

“Sooner or later Donald Trump, even if he’s president, is going to have to learn that he doesn’t get to pick the journalists — we’re very surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly,” the Fox representative told Business Insider in a statement.

Reality

With 157,864 votes a majority of 56% said ‘yes’ to attending the GOP debate. Trump skipped the debate and lost Iowa to Ted Cruz.

Media

Should I do the #GOPdebate?

A post shared by President Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on

 

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