Jan. 27--Donald Trump is using the very same rallying cry that Fox News has used to attract and unify its audience -- that someone has to stand up to media bias in the name of fairness -- against it.
This isn't mano a mano.
It's brand vs. brand, and Trump is trying to pull Fox News' out from under it.
"Megyn Kelly is really biased against me," Trump said in a video posted on Instagram before announcing he would skip Fox News' Iowa debate Thursday because Kelly will be a moderator. "She knows that. I know that. Everybody knows that. Do you really think she can be fair at a debate?"
That's right. The Republican front-runner, apparently still sore about being asked about remarks he has made about women by Fox News' Kelly in an August debate, rallied his supporters by deeming Kelly ... wait for it ... not fair and not balanced.
Fox News would shoot back: "Capitulating to politicians' ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats."
Which is what mainstream media organizations all say when questions about journalistic standards are raised. Because it's absolutely true.
Plus Kelly's August question was absolutely within bounds. So there's no other tenable position, which makes for a perfect Us Against Them dynamic.
Fox News gets justifiably dinged for a lot of things it does (and wrongly dinged for some things too). But Trump is trying to use Kelly for his own purposes, whether it's truly to stand apart from the rest of the still-crowded GOP field, lay the groundwork for spin after Monday's Iowa caucuses or something else.
There's no choice for Fox News but to hold its ground. It chose to shove back.
When Trump posted his anti-Kelly video and asked Twitter followers to vote as to whether he should participate in the debate, the network responded tongue-in-cheek.
But it's unlikely Trump was amused to hear that, if elected, Russia's Vladimir Putin and Iran's Ayatollah planned to treat him unfairly and that he would ditch his Cabinet in favor of governing by Twitter poll.
