RUDY GETS THE GONG — RUDY GIULIANI has been banned from Fox News for almost three months. As if the sting of that weren’t painful enough, the “9/11 mayor” learned of his banishment … on the eve of Sept. 11.
Giuliani was slated to appear on “Fox & Friends” to mark the 20th anniversary of the attack. But the night before, host PETE HEGSETH called Giuliani to say he’d been cut from the show and apologize.
The ban extends not just to GIULIANI, but also to his son ANDREW, who has not been on Fox News since he launched his campaign for governor of New York in May despite many requests to go on the network. His team has been frustrated that rival GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. LEE ZELDIN is a frequent guest.
But bookers have told both Giulianis the ban comes from the top, sources said. The former New York City mayor had been a fixture on the network.
“Rudy is really hurt because he did a big favor for RUPERT [MURDOCH],” a source close to Giuliani said. “He was instrumental in getting Fox on Time Warner so it could be watched in New York City.” In 1996, Giuliani’s administration advocated for Time Warner to carry the newly launched Fox News Channel, intervening in a dispute between Murdoch and the cable provider.
Dominion Voting Systems has separately sued Giuliani and Fox News for allegedly defaming the company with false election claims — in the case of Fox, for allowing guests like Giuliani to make the claims on its network. Fox News has filed to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Dominion failed to show the network acted in malice, the legal standard for proving defamation. Giuliani has argued his claims about Dominion were “substantially true,” while acknowledging he didn’t understand how the company’s voting software works, according to Business Insider.
In a 2018 FBI deposition that became public last month, Giuliani admitted he would push lies about HILLARY CLINTON on Fox News, referring to it as “throwing a fake.”
Giuliani’s former police commissioner, BERNIE KERIK, who also promoted election conspiracies, has had difficulty getting time on Fox after being a regular on the network. He appeared live on the network just once on Sept. 11 — on JESSE WATTERS’ show — despite being a critical player in the aftermath of the attacks. Kerik wrote a letter to Fox Business Network President LAUREN PETTERSON to complain, according to a source familiar with the matter.
A Fox News source said that Kerik was also booked for “Fox & Friends” on Sept. 11 but canceled because of logistical issues. The network declined to comment on Giuliani’s status with the network.
“I could not have been more disappointed with the Fox coverage on the 20th anniversary of September 11,” Kerik said in a statement to Playbook. “Then they chose to intentionally ignore Mayor Giuliani who was, and who according to their own coverage for the last two decades was America’s hero on the day and in the aftermath of the attack. Regardless of reasoning, I think this was another demonstration of Fox’s cowering to the far left.”
It’s not just Giuliani. Senior Trump aides have found it difficult to get bookings on Fox News or even coverage of stories that are damaging to their enemies or positive for Trump.
“They’re not doing us any favors,” sniffed one Trump aide.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Monday said Americans might be ready “to turn the page” on former President Trump as he decides whether to run for president a third time.
“People conflate Trump with people’s overall sense of happiness in the country. Donald Trump’s been a friend of mine for 25 years, and I’m always very open about this on my show. But, you know we’ll see whether that’s what the country wants,” Ingraham said during an appearance on Lisa Boothe’s podcast. “The country I think is so exhausted. They’re exhausted by the battle, the constant battle, that they may believe that, well, maybe it’s time to turn the page if we can get someone who has all Trump’s policies, who’s not Trump.”
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The relationship between top talent at Fox and Trump is closely watched by media watchdogs and political analysts as the former president flirts with another White House bid.
On Monday morning, “Fox and Friends” host Steve Doocy called on the former president to “tamp down the rhetoric” against the Justice Department and FBI following the Mar-a-Lago search and implore his supporters not to threaten members of federal law enforcement.
“Whatever we can do to help — because the temperature has to be brought down in the country,” Trump told a Fox News hours after Doocy’s remarks. “If it isn’t, terrible things are going to happen.”
The rest of what he said. Clearly trying to calm things down....
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"The country is in a very dangerous position. There is tremendous anger, like I've never seen before, over all of the scams, and this new one — years of scams and witch hunts, and now this," Trump said.
"If there is anything we can do to help, I, and my people, would certainly be willing to do that," Trump said.
"There has never been a time like this where law enforcement has been used to break into the house of a former president of the United States, and there is tremendous anger in the country — at a level that has never been seen before, other than during very perilous times," Trump said.
Trump told Fox News that his team "has not heard yet" from the Justice Department on whether they will accept his offer for help.
"I think they would want the same thing — I’ve never seen anything like this," Trump said. "It is a very dangerous time for our country."
He added: "I will do whatever I can to help the country."
Trump, reflecting on the "years of fake witch hunts and phony Russia, Russia, Russia schemes and scams," said that "nothing happens to those people who perpetuate that — nothing happens with them."
"And then they break into a president’s house — a sneak attack where it was totally — no one ever thought a thing like this would happen," Trump said.
