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Roger Ailes, what "unfortunate thing" did Beck apologize for?

January 31, 2010 1:01 pm ET by Simon Maloy

For reasons that still aren't exactly clear, Fox News president Roger Ailes participated in the roundtable discussion on ABC's This Week earlier today, appearing alongside This Week regulars Arianna Huffington, Paul Krugman, and George Will. When Huffington challenged Ailes on Glenn Beck's inflammatory rhetoric, Ailes defended his ratings wunderkind, saying: "He did say one unfortunate thing which he apologized for, but that happens in live television."

Ailes declined to go into specifics, so we'll just have to guess as to what he was talking about. Of course, the most memorably "unfortunate" thing Glenn Beck has said as a member of the Fox News family was his declaration that President Obama is a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred for white people." But here's the thing -- Beck never apologized for calling Obama a "racist." He apologized for the way he "phrased" the statement, but said that it's a "serious question" that needed to be asked.

So that leaves us with two possible situations:

First, Roger Ailes used his first guest spot on This Week to quite brazenly lie about his network's rising star.

Second, Roger Ailes was talking about one of the many other "unfortunate" things Beck has said on Fox News, to the exclusion of the "racist" smear. That would mean Ailes is in the same camp as his boss, News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, who said that Beck was "right" to call the president a "racist."

The sad part is that both these situations are equally as likely to be true.

Tags: Glenn Beck, Roger Ailes

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    • Author by wookie (January 31, 2010 1:28 pm ET)
      5  
      This is Fox's usual attempt to have it both ways. They can throw out a a weaselly pseudo apology to blunt the worst of the criticism while letting the wingnuts feel that Beck is standing on principle.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by indictgwbush (January 31, 2010 2:22 pm ET)
           
        You have to have principles(other than greed,hatred and opportunism); to be able to stand on them.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by bennoba (January 31, 2010 8:39 pm ET)
           
        Actually, the whole article is Media Matters typical attempt at 'speculation to fit the narrative' , then passed off as fact to their readers who have never shown any inclination to apply any common sense or think for themselves.

        If you can mount an argument that shows where Beck is wrong and back it up with evidence (not childish smears, insults and distortions), you'll be well on your way to credibility.

        I seriously doubt you even know the difference if the nonsense that gets posted daily on this blog is any indication.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by gg (January 31, 2010 2:28 pm ET)
      3  
      You can't expect Ailes to explain the one unfortunate thing that Beck said and the he apologized for, because Ailes might end up referring to the wrong one since we all know there is more than one and Ailes knows it.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by denmac (January 31, 2010 4:42 pm ET)
         
      I think Ailes was referring to that unbelievably "unfortunate" statement that Beck made, even though admitting that he didn't have the facts, that Boston police acted "stupidly" when arresting an arrogant Harvard professor who had broken into his own home.

      No ... no ..., that was someone else. Well, whatever Beck apologized for, I hope it was over a beer!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by News Corpse (January 31, 2010 5:09 pm ET)
      3  
      I'll bet that what Ailes was referring to was one time when Beck accidentally said something nice about Obama. That would be unfortunate to Ailes.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by mescal (January 31, 2010 10:45 pm ET)
        3  
        Yeah, but as we all know, Dreck has NEVER said anything nice about President Obama... not even accidentally.
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    • Author by LonelyLibertarian (January 31, 2010 8:20 pm ET)
         
      You folks will never get it - Roger Ailes does...

      Less government - more liberty - more personal responsibility and accountability.

      Beck - Huffington - hmmmm

      not a hard choice for me...
      Report Abuse
    • Author by iSaidit (January 31, 2010 11:25 pm ET)
         
      I get it now, It's okay for a commentator to call a group of American citizens racist, even if they aren't... but its not okay for a commentator to question the beliefs of our president?

      I forgot he was black there for an hour... I remember everyone could get away with calling Bush a racist and nobody forgot he was white for an hour =/
      Report Abuse
    • Author by dr. engine (February 01, 2010 10:49 am ET)
      2  
      No need to worry. I'm sure Ailes is talking about an instance when Beck privately apologized for something he said that was unfortunate. You know, at one of Ailes' company barbeques or something.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Blueneck (February 01, 2010 10:57 am ET)
      3  
      What "unfortunate thing" did Beck apologize for?

      You know--the thing.

      You need clarification? That thing--you know that unfortunate thing. Geez--what could be clearer?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by angels4light (February 01, 2010 8:53 pm ET)
           
        He apologized for apologizing, perhaps? Apologizing, however backhanded, could be considered the unfortunate thing. And the person he apologized to was, perhaps, either Mr. Ailes or Mr. Murdoch.
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    • Author by Aunty Em (February 01, 2010 12:02 pm ET)
         
      Four months after Ben Gleck™ said Van Jones was a felon, The Beckereeno had to issue a retraction.

      Video: Glenn Beck apologizes for Van Jones error nearly four months after the fact
      http://www.examiner.com/x-5738-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m12d4-Video--Glenn-Beck-apologizes-for-Van-Jones-error-nearly-four-months-after-the-fact

      I wrote a column" Aunty Em Demands A Correction From The Glenn Beck Show" (http://www.newshounds.us/2009/10/24/aunty_em_demands_a_correction_from_the_glenn_beck_show.php) in October, but I am still waiting to hear back.

      With all my love,
      Aunty Em
      Report Abuse

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