Donald Trump feud causes panicking Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to call Ivanka and Melani
Donald Trump feud causes panicking Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to call Ivanka and Melania in attempt to get the frontrunner BACK to the debate - but he'll only speak to Murdoch
*Donald Trump's refusal to attend Fox News' debate on Thursday night has sent Fox News into chaos
*The network's CEO has reportedly reached out to both Ivanka and Melania Trump to try and get the Republican front-runner to change his mind
*He refuses to attend over the inclusion of anchor Megyn Kelly as one of the debate moderators and will only speak to network head Rupert Murdoch
*Kelly meanwhile welcomed liberal filmmaker Michael Moore on her program Tuesday night who applauded her handling of the Trump feud
*One Fox News anchor said of Moore and Kelly; 'That would be like Rachel Maddow laughing along with Charles Koch as he trashed Hillary Clinton!'
*Trump called Kelly a 'lightweight reporter' on Wednesday morning and his campaign manager said she is 'completely obsessed' with Trump
*Murdoch meanwhile is goading Michael Bloomberg to join the race for president
*Murdoch has yet to comment on Trump pulling out, but took to Twitter Wednesday to criticize debate co-host Google for not paying fair tax
By CHRIS SPARGO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 09:48 EST, 27 January 2016 | UPDATED: 13:50 EST, 27 January 2016
The Fox News and Donald Trump feud is heating up now that the Republican front-runner has announced he will not be attending the network's debate Thursday night over the presence of anchor Megyn Kelly.
And while the network appears to be publicly siding with Kelly, who is still set to moderate Thursday's debate, the network is also reportedly trying to privately plead with Trump the best way they know how - through the women in his life.
Joe Scarborough, who has a close relationship with many people at Fox News, revealed on Morning Joe Wednesday morning that Fox News CEO Roger Ailes had been trying to contact both Ivanka and Melania Trump hoping they could convince Trump to change his mind, but that Trump would only speak to Rupert Murdoch.
Trump maybe able to address some of these issues and claims Wednesday night as he is set to appear on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor.
Kelly meanwhile welcomed a surprisingly liberal guest on her program Tuesday night, Michael Moore.
The documentary filmmaker was there to promote his new film Where to Invade Next?, but also took time to applaud Kelly and ask how she was dealing with the very public feud between her and Trump while mocking the presidential hopeful over his refusal to attend the debate.
Meanwhile, Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski continued with their unified attack on Kelly Wednesday morning during an appearance on Good Morning America saying that the anchor is 'completely obsessed' with the presidential hopeful.
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Troubles: Donald Trump's refusal to attend Fox News' debate on Thursday night has sent Fox News into chaos and network CEO Roger Ailes reaching out to Ivanka and Melania Trump (Trumps above in December 2012)
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Reason: Trump refuses to attend over the inclusion of anchor Megyn Kelly (above) as one of the debate moderators
Moore also offered Kelly the ultimate compliment about her feud with Trump on her program Tuesday when he said; 'In all seriousness, let me say this, you’ve done something that Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Rubio, Cruz - none of them have been able to do. Which is to, essentially, frighten him.'
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Not looking good: Ailes' (above) inability to get Trump to debate on Thursday could mean major problems for the CEO
Then, in a move that no doubt left many viewers shocked, Moore appeared to ask Kelly out on a date, saying; 'I was thinking I was maybe going to have to, like, take you out to dinner afterwards. We could talk. You could emote … get it out. I’m here for you.'
New York's Gabe Sherman is reporting that Moore's appearance on Kelly's show had some at the network fuming, with one of her fellow anchor's noting; 'That would be like Rachel Maddow laughing along with Charles Koch as he trashed Hillary Clinton!'
Some at the conservative network seem to be angry that Kelly has now undeniably become the face of Fox News, something which was recently cemented with her appearance on the cover of Vanity Fair.
She has said little about Trump, while he of course has continued to bash her in public and on social media, writing Wednesday morning; 'I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!'
Trump meanwhile is refusing calls from Ailes and will only speak to the man at the very top - News Corporation founder Murdoch.
Scarborough said on Morning Joe Wednesday; 'Per our sources, Roger Ailes was calling Ivanka, he was trying to get in touch with Trump, he was calling Melania, people that he's got a good relationship with, they love Roger. They have a great respect for him.
'But at this point, Trump's only gonna talk to Rupert, and they're going to figure it out.'
Prior to that Scarborough had said on the program; 'I have a ton of friends at Fox, I love Fox and I know a lot of people at Fox are really twisted up at about how this has gone down and how Megyn Kelly, has somehow, with Michael Moore, taken over the network.'
Murdoch meanwhile is not being shy about chasing someone to join the race for president - Michael Bloomberg.
He wrote on Twitter Wednesday; 'This is Bloomberg's last chance. You never know until your hat is in the ring! Events change everything, especially during elections.'
He also went after Google, who is co-hosting the debate, in a series of tweets, saying they do not pay fair taxes.
It is not clear if Murdoch has spoken to Trump but the entire situation could spell trouble for Ailes.
'The CEO earned Murdoch's trust because Fox generates $1 billion in profit, but also because he was always in control. But in recent months Murdoch has been attending news meetings at Fox in the wake of a health scare that forced Ailes to take an extended leave of absence,' writes Sherman.
'Succession planning at Fox is very much on Murdoch's agenda. If Ailes loses his grip on the Trump situation - and right now it looks like he is - Murdoch will have another reason to worry about the stability of his most valuable asset.'
Lewandowski pointed out the major problem the network is facing during his appearance on Good Morning America Wednesday, saying; 'My guess is that people who bought advertising time thinking that Donald Trump was going to be on the stage are going to be very disappointed when nobody decides to watch that GOP debate.'
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Main man: Trump will only speak to network head Rupert Murdoch according to reports (seen above last week as he was busy being loved up in London by new fiance Jerry Hall)
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Trump is also continuing to attack the network, writing Wednesday morning; 'The statement put out yesterday by @FoxNews was a disgrace to good broadcasting and journalism. Who would ever say something so nasty & dumb.'
The first statement released by the network said; 'We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president — a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.'
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Big deal: Kelly has now become the face of Fox News (Vanity Fair cover above), much to the chagrin of some of her fellow hosts
Then Fox News released an official statement, which said; 'We're not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage.
'Capitulating to politicians' ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats, including the one leveled by Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski toward Megyn Kelly.
'In a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a "rough couple of days after that last debate" and he "would hate to have her go through that again." Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so.
'We can't give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees. Trump is still welcome at Thursday night's debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can't dictate the moderators or the questions.'
Trump has said that instead of attending the debate he will host an Iowa town hall to benefit veterans and let let other networks cover it as his opponents debate just days before the first votes are cast in the primary election.
The feud between Trump and Kelly began during the first Fox News debate in August, when Kelly asked the candidate if previous, disparaging comments he made against women were acceptable for a man who hoped to be president.
He responded by saying the next day of Kelly; 'You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.'
Trump's absence means that the debate on Thursday will now feature Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Ohio Governor John Kasich and Senator Rand Paul.
And of course Kelly, who said on her program Tuesday night; 'I’ll be there.
'The debate will go on with or without Mr. Trump.'
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