Donald Trump is ignoring calls from Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes and will only speak with News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch, a source close to the Republican frontrunner told a journalist Tuesday night.
New York Magazine National Affairs Editor Gabriel Sherman — who wrote a book largely critical of Ailes — reported that a Trump source told him the billionaire's advisers were informing individuals that Trump would only deal with Murdoch moving forward.
According to Sherman, Fox News host Sean Hannity even attempted to call Trump as an emissary, but it was to no avail.
The demand would not be new for Trump. Last summer, the real estate mogul demanded TheBlaze founder Glenn Beck personally call him to request an interview.
“Our office spoke to Donald Trumps office today and invited him on,” Beck wrote at the time. “He sent the message back that he doesn’t deal with underlings and that I wanted him on I would have to call him myself.”
Trump announced on Tuesday that he would boycott the Thursday Fox News debate. The real estate mogul cited a snarky statement put out hours before by a Fox News spokesperson and the network’s refusal to remove host Megyn Kelly as a moderator as reasons he would not participate.
In return, Fox News released a scathing statement accusing Trump's campaign advisor of issuing at threat toward Kelly over the weekend.
“We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees,” the statement said. “Trump is still welcome at Thursday night’s debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can’t dictate the moderators or the questions.”
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