NY Times: Fox News Execs Dispute NY Mag's Quote About Palin

“Roger Ailes admires and respects Sarah Palin and thinks she is smart.”
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Fox News executives are disputing a quote allegedly made by an unnamed source in a New York magazine attack piece which claims that network chairman Roger Ailes thinks Sarah Palin is “an idiot.” Here's The New York Times' Jim Ruttenberg in a Monday posting on The Caucus blog:

The article quotes “a Republican close to Ailes” who makes that assertion and adds: “He helped boost her up. People like Sarah Palin haven’t elevated the conservative movement.” Mr. Ailes did not speak for the magazine article.

In a statement to The New York Times, the Fox News Channel executive vice president of programming, Bill Shine, said:

“I know for a fact that Roger Ailes admires and respects Sarah Palin and thinks she is smart. He also believes many members of the left-wing media are extremely terrified and threatened by her. Despite a massive effort to destroy Sarah Palin, she is still on her feet and making a difference in the political world. As for the ‘Republican close to Ailes’ for which the incorrect Palin quote is attributed, when Roger figures out who that is, I guarantee you he or she will no longer be ‘close to Ailes.’ ”

- JP