Tonight we have a fox news debate which Donald Trump has vowed to skip. This provides a great opportunity, perhaps the best yet, for Ted Cruz to gain maximum media attention. This opportunity however is not created by the ability to attack the Donald in his absence. Every other candidate will be doing that. Yawn. It’s what we all predict and primarily why after the first five minutes, no one will still be watching.
Instead of taking the predictable route and attacking Trump, Cruz should dedicate tonight’s debate towards attacking Fox News. Just imagine the vast media coverage Ted Cruz would garner by criticizing Rodger Ailes for issuing his highly partisan childish ignorant statement regarding world leaders and Trump’s use of twitter. After all, is it truly appropriate for a news organization to mock a specific candidate before holding what is supposed to be a fare debate of our nation’s issues? I’ve heard a lot from Fox commentators over the last 24 hours regarding the importance in maintaining the independence of the media. Yet no one on Fox News seems to want to mention how a station that portrays itself as “fair and balanced” can issue a statement mocking a specific candidate.
There is no doubt Trump has been ridiculing Megyn Kelly, suggesting she shouldn’t be allowed to be a moderator. But, he stirred the pot in a similar manner before, such as when he demanded shorter debates or for CNN to donate all its proceeds to veterans. Yet Trump has never actually boycotted a debate despite threatening to do so. For better or worse, stirring the pot with vailed suggestions that he won’t attend, is what Trump does. It’s just who he is. Yet for some reason, Fox News felt it necessary to poke Trump in the eye. They could have acted like every other news organization and simply ignored Trump’s comments as noise coming from the illegitimate carnival barker most on their network already consider him to be. But, they didn’t. Are we to just ignore that fact and continue to pretend that Trump is boycotting the debate simply because Kelly is the moderator?
So, Cruz should capitalize on this and attack Fox. After all, why did Ailes have that statement issued? If it was intended as a joke, what else on the fox news website should be considered a joke? Are they now specializing in political satire like the onion? Why did Megyn Kelly allow Michael Moore to use her show as a platform Tuesday night where he praised Kelly as the only person able to defeat the Donald? Does the fact that world leaders won’t be fare negotiators with our future president, truly provide liberty for our news outlets to be as unfair as they wish? And, does anyone else find it rather unusual how eager Rodger Ailes is to jump to Megyn Kelly’s defensed even though she said she can take care of herself? The possible inferences which could be drawn from that comment alone would definitely catapult Cruz into the news cycle until votes are casted Monday. Media attention is what’s necessary to ensure one’s message is put forth. If nothing else, Cruz should be angered that Ailes’ statement caused Trump to boycott the debate, thereby ensuring viewership is a tenth of what it otherwise would be.
Finally, utilizing tonight’s debate to attack Fox not only plays into Cruz’s overall message of being against the DC establishment, it would also make it infeasible for Trump to continue his ceaseless attack of Cruz, someone who would be perceived as defending him. In the end, requiring enough self-awareness to understand when humility is required might finally expose Trump to his biggest challenger for the presidency, himself.
Image provide by : USA TODAY