FOX NEWS STAR JUMPS ON 'DUMP TRUMP' BANDWAGON
Video: Anchor convenes 'conservative' TV panel to bash GOP front-runner
Subscribe to feed
Print- Text smaller
- Text bigger
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/11/Donald_Trump.jpg
Donald Trump (Gage Skidmore — Wikimedia)
The heat against Donald Trump is sizzling. All within the last 24 hours, a Fox News star brought forth a panel to explain why voting for Trump would be fallacy, the National Review trotted out nearly two dozen conservative voices to opine the same, the Republican National Committee dropped the magazine from its sponsorship lineup for the GOP’s upcoming debate, and Trump himself responded with characteristic bluntness.
“[National Review] is a dying paper,” he said, slamming the publication for its one-sided hit against his campaign.
image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/01/trump-tweet.png
It started Thursday evening, on “The Kelly File” on Fox News, when Megyn Kelly convened a trio of conservative camp pundits for a “dump Trump” sit-down discussion of just why Donald Trump is not the right candidate for the Republican Party – with only a couple of comments from voices to the contrary.
Even far-left liberal sites like Media Matters noticed the less-than-stellar pro-Trump presence, commenting how Kelly “hosted a group of conservative media personalities that have banded together against” Trump, in a Web post on the show entitled, “The Anti-Trump Conservatives Megyn Kelly Hosted All Want Ted Cruz.”
The Thursday evening panel included Dana Loesch, a frequent Fox contributor and host of “Dana” on Blaze TV; Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center; and Katie Pavlich, author and news editor at Townhall.
Watch below as Megyn Kelly convenes ‘Conservatives Against Trump’:
Kelly introduced Loesch as a front-line defender of tea-party values who "didn't see Donald Trump" sharing the sidewalks at various rallies with her.
"No, and Megyn, you know, to that point, I was on that first phone call, the night we were all, a group of us, were planning the first tea-party rallies and founding the modern tea-party movement. ... I did it for principles over popularity. And when I'm looking at the primary, I feel as though a lot of this has turned into popularity over principles. That's what conservatism is. It's principle. I know Donald Trump. I think he is a nice guy. ... But that's not enough to me, anyway, to win over the White House. I want someone who is a great leader and is a staunch conservative and I don't have to question their authenticity," she said, according to a transcript posted on Media Matters.
Kelly then raised the point of a lot of conservatives flocking to Trump because they perceive him as anti-establishment.
Bozell underscored his own conservative principles, saying "anyone who knows me, knows I was fighting the establishment well before fighting the establishment was cool ... with the Buchanan Brigades in 1992."
He then explained why Trump wasn't his candidate: "To suggest that Trump has had some kind of road to Damascus, a transformation, just isn't true. Look, Ronald Reagan spent 16 years working for conservative principles. Giving speeches, traveling around the country, raising money ... doings all those things that advance the conservative movement for decades, before he ran for president. Donald Trump did none of it until three months ago. Up until three months ago, this is a man who said he was a proud Democrat ... a proud supporter of Hillary Clinton ... a proud supporter of Planned Parenthood."
And his conclusion?
"I think people have to say, it's been a lot of fun, up until now," he said, the blog reported. "Do we only care about rattling the cages in Washington or do we as conservatives want [to] fundamentally change this course of destruction that we're on? And Donald Trump has no record of ever supporting any of these things."
Kelly then quoted William Kristol, who called Trump "the epitome of vulgarity," and brought up another written opinions against the businessman. And to Pavlich, she asked: "Does it [such criticism] run any risk of having the opposite of its intended effect?"
Pavlich said Trump will always have his supporters.
"But as we see with the race in Iowa, there is a rift between Donald Trump and people who are looking at Ted Cruz as a conservative option," she said. "Again, this does go back to principles. We have to ask ourselves here whether we are willing to set the precedent with Donald Trump and just throwing away years and years and decades and centuries of conservative principles and values simply because a candidate comes in and says all the right things."
Pavlich also said, in answer to the claims by Trump of his own conservatism: "But he's not. ... His liberal past is not behind him. ... Conservatives, historically have prided themselves on voting, on records, and voting for candidates who have been loyal to the Constitution and loyal to conservative principles. Donald Trump is not that candidate."
Kelly also interviewed during that same show National Review editor Rich Lowry who headed up the magazine's just-published manifesto, "Against Trump." In a separate entry, "Conservatives against Trump," the magazine published written thoughts of a couple dozen different conservatives explaining just why, in their opinions, the front-runner Republican candidate was the wrong choice for America and votes should stick with another.
On "The Kelly File," Lowry explained his view of conservatism and why Trump didn't fit.
"If you truly are conservative, you believe in ideas and principles," he said, Breitbart reported. "It's not just attitudes. It's not just who you dislike. It's limited government. It's the Constitution. It's liberty. Those are the things that truly make this country special. And they are basically afterthoughts to Donald Trump."
Lowry also referred to Reagan, and how he spent "30 or 40 years marinating in conservative thought and advocating for conservative ideas. He didn't just show up one day and say, 'Hey, now I'm a conservative.'"
And one more thought, from Lowry to Kelly: "Another problem with Trump is he seems to believe what this country needs is a really effective strong man to make the trains run on time, when what we really need is the government to be cut down to size, restored to its rightful role and then focus on the important things, like the borders."
Following the National Review special edition hit against Trump, the Republican National Committee announced it was dropping the magazine as a debate sponsor for the Feb. 25 event in Housing, saying in a statement "a debate moderator can't have a predisposition," Fox News reported.
The National Review responded, via a statement from publisher Jack Fowler.
"We expected this was coming," he said, adding the RNC's move was a "small price to pay for speaking the truth about The Donald."
Trump, meanwhile, has sounded off against the National Review postings, calling the magazine a "dying paper" with a circulation that's floundering.
"People don't even think about the National Review," Trump said, Real Clear Politics reported. "I guess they want to get a little publicity. But that's a dying paper. I got to tell you, it's pretty much a dead paper."
Trump also claimed Thursday that Republican powerbrokers are "warming up" to his candidacy.
"I want to be honest, I have received so many phone calls from people that you would call establishment, from people — generally speaking ... conservatives, Republicans — that want to come onto our team," Trump told reporters in Las Vegas before an appearance at the Outdoor Sportsman Awards. He also announced the endorsement of "Duck Dynasty" star Willie Robertson.
"We are getting calls from everybody that it's actually amazing. I'm actually surprised," he added.
Copyright 2016 WND
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/fox-news-star-jumps-on-dump-trump-bandwagon/#stIqs0DsQDJAweCi.99
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for commenting. Your comments are needed for helping to improve the discussion.