Politico: Rand Paul canceled on NBC's Meet the Press after call from Fox News' Karl Rove

Written by Karl Frisch

Published

Earlier this month, Politico reported that Fox News “political analyst” Karl Rove was “secretly plot[ting a] vast network to reclaim power” for the Republican Party. In the weeks since news of the effort broke, Fox News has been caught looking the other way time and again when it comes to Rove's conflicting roles.

Now Politico is reporting that Rove urged Kentucky GOP Senate nominee Rand Paul to cancel his appearance on NBC's Meet the Press this weekend after several days of tough media coverage following his comments on the Civil Rights Act of 1964:

Paul, who canceled a planned appearance Sunday on NBC's “Meet the Press” after a week of tough coverage, seems to have switched to a more disciplined approach: get off national TV, focus on Kentucky and stay on message.

That's in part because senior Republicans have told him to do so.

Karl Rove, the former top adviser to George W Bush, called Paul's campaign manager this week and said the candidate was hurting himself with all the exposure, according to a source familiar with the conversation (In an email, Rove only said “no comment” when asked about the matter)

At this point one could easily come to the conclusion that Fox News only pays Rove to underwrite his political activity. After all, they've shown no concern whatsoever over the ethical implications of his dual role as a network “political analyst” and his work for the GOP "campaign apparatus."

Those ethical implications are further complicated by news that Rove is purportedly advising partisan political campaigns directly.

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