It was Fox debate night held in conjunction with The National Enquirer, The Sun, and The Mirror. The main event was Trump bashing. The outspoken real estate tycoon was the piñata and Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly, and Chris Wallace, had the batting sticks.
Baier took the first swing: “Can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge not to run an independent campaign?” It was rhetorical. Baier might as well have asked, Mr. Trump, would you please raise your hand?
The only man on the over-crowded stage of ten presidential hopefuls with his hand raised was, of course, Donald Trump. He was set apart from the very beginning. A record-breaking 24 million tuned in to watch the debate because of Trump. He was also center stage because of his poll numbers.
The Bloomberg Political Poll, held two days before the debate rated Trump at 21 percent, a run-away double-digit lead over his two closest rivals, Jeb Bush with 10 percent and Scott Walker at 8 percent.
It was Trump’s night out.
Kelly was next at bat with the biggest stick. She had researchers go back five years to dig up anything that Trump said that could be construed as vulgar or offensive. Here’s the dirt.
“You’ve called women—-[specifically, it was two women]—-you don’t like, ‘fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,’” Kelly said. She continued, “You once told a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice it would be a ‘pretty picture to see her on her knees.’”
Trump explained that the fat pig and slob remark was directed at Rosie O’Donnell’s eating habits at a Trump party. But instead of the anticipated OMG gasps, the crowd responded with applause and laughter.
And the “disgusting animal” quote? For that we go back to 2011. The scene is a Florida courtroom involving a real estate dispute. The attorney for the defense asked for a recess to allow her time to express milk for her baby while holding up a breast pump to make her point.
Trump thought her courtroom demeanor was “disgusting.” His lawyer said, “In my 20 years of legal practice I’ve never seen more bizarre behavior at a deposition.”
But surely the “pretty picture to see her on her knees,” was a sleazy remark. Or was it?
That imagined nugget of smuttiness was said when Celebrity Apprentice contestant, Brande Roderick got down on her knees and begged not to be fired.
“Excuse me,” said Trump, “you dropped to your knees?” “Yes,” Roderick answered. “Must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees,” quipped Trump.
Recalling the incident, Roderick said, “He’s on television; he’s trying to be funny. I’ve always had a positive experience around Donald. He’s always been encouraging. He’s never been disrespectful to me,” said the TV contestant.
The blow-back from Kelly’s below-the-belt questions caught the Chairman of Fox, Roger Ailes by surprise. The knockout rating, e-mails, and social media traffic, overwhelmingly supported Trump and blasted Kelly.
Ailes decided to mend fences with Trump and sent the chastened pundit princess packing on a ten-day “vacation” effective immediately.
Last with the least was Chris Wallace.
Wallace: “You say that the Mexican government is sending criminals, rapists, drug dealers, across the border. Governor Bush has called those remarks, ‘extraordinarily ugly.’”
Trump: “The fact is, since then, many killings, murders, crimes, drugs [are] pouring across the border. We need to build a wall. And I don’t mind having a big, beautiful door in that wall so that people can come into this country, legally.”
So who won the debate? Depends on whom you ask. The press, TV’s opinionaires—-e.g., George Will, Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol—-professional politicos, country-club republicans and doctrinaire democrats, might disagree on who won but were in unanimity on who lost: Trump.
But according to the 585,000 people questioned by the Drudge Report in their post-debate poll, the over-the-top winner was Trump. He won a crushing 45 percent of the vote (as he did in the Time poll), followed by Cruz at 14 percent, and Rubio with 11 percent. Bush placed 9th at 2 percent.
Others claim that Fox was the winner.
The bread-and-circuses event was a chart-shattering mega-hit. The debate was a TV spectacle that bypassed substantive queries for gotsha questions crafted to excite or shock, quotes taken wildly out of context, and factoids that exploited, distorted and exaggerated reality to created an entertainment extravaganza.
And it almost worked except—-except that this Piñata whacked back.
Sincerely,
Bob Scroggins
New Milford, PA