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Jan. 27, 2016 - Freedomain Radio - Stefan Molyneux
20:55
3188 Donald Trump Not Participating In Fox News Debate | True News
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Hi everybody, Stefan Molyneux from Freedom Main Radio.
Hope you're doing well.
So, quick video out tonight.
Trump has said that he will not participate in Thursday's GOP debate on Fox News and the planet erupts in a veritable firestorm of girly hysteria.
This is from the Washington Post.
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump abruptly announced here Tuesday that he would not participate in Thursday's scheduled debate, escalating his off-and-on feud with Fox News Channel and throwing the GOP campaign into turmoil.
So, as I've said before, the media has no interest whatsoever in informing you.
All they want to do is Giuseppe Puppet-style control your thoughts and feelings.
We can see this right here, right here, right now, in this opening paragraph.
So, he abruptly announced here Tuesday.
So, abrupt sounds like it's off the cuff.
He's deranged.
He's got Tourette's squirrel.
He says, no TOB debate.
And so, he's abrupt.
Of course, this is not abrupt at all.
He's already boycotted Fox after the first debate when Megyn Kelly asked him all these leading questions about basically, have you stopped beating your wife yet?
He got upset about that, and I guess anybody with any self-esteem probably would.
Not that we're used to seeing people like that in the media, outside of YouTube.
But, so, no, this is not abrupt, and he's talked about it before.
Escalating his off-and-on feud with Fox News Channel.
Okay, let me break it down to you, media.
You dying wildebeest of disaster.
Donald Trump does not need you...
Donald Trump is using you and you need Donald Trump.
This is not an on and off feud.
This is basically a man saying, why should I help you make millions of dollars by insulting me?
See, we're not used to seeing people with self-esteem in the media or God help us in politics.
The man is basically saying, why would I ever want to be in a room where the upside is you make millions of dollars and the downside is I get insulted repeatedly?
They aren't tough questions.
They are insulting questions.
And he's written the book called The Art of the Deal, which is where he says what he needs from a deal.
How is this confusing to people?
So, Trump's assertion You see, when Megyn Kelly is attacked by Trump, she holds her ground, she takes a stand, but with Trump it's just a bare assertion.
His campaign manager insisted it was irreversible, came less than one week before the kickoff Iowa caucuses.
He once again defied the conventional rules of politics and used his power and prominence to shape the campaign agenda and conversation.
So I guess the media is so into the talent and celebrities that the only thing that they can think driving the number of viewers who tune in to see Donald Trump is his power and prominence.
It's not the fact that he's talking about issues that Americans have been desperate to talk about for about 50 years, certainly since 1965, since the floodgates to non-European immigration were opened into America.
Americans have been dying, dying to talk about these things, and Trump is finally talking about them.
It's not just power and prominence that drives the views.
It's the fact that something interesting is happening in the political sphere.
Someone is actually speaking about things that matter to people as a whole.
So it says, they go on to say, so far Trump's untraditional moves have only expanded his support, but his threatened boycott...
It's not a boycott.
A boycott is when you organize everyone else to not consume a particular good or service.
Like if you don't like company X with brand Y, you say to everyone, we should stop buying company X's brand Y or whatever.
It's not a boycott.
He's just not showing up.
If you were called in and people stole your money and beat you up, and then they said, hey, come meet us in a dark alley again, and you said, I don't think I will.
Thank you very much.
That's not boycotting.
You're just not showing up to something that harms you and benefits others.
But this is great.
This part I love.
So far, blah, blah, blah.
His threatened boycott, here we go, leaves him open to criticism that for all his tough talk he is ducking face-to-face confrontations with his opponents and scrutiny from the Fox moderators.
So he's not really a tough guy because he's afraid of Megyn Kelly.
Yeah.
Just these people are so mad.
Do not think that everyone is seeing through this ridiculous troll baiting.
I swear to God, when it gets to the mainstream media, I get more rigorous intellectual analysis from my YouTube comments from people who farted themselves into a coma by squirting Jack Daniels up their nostril with a Hoover gun.
I don't know what a Hoover gun is.
Sometimes the metaphors work and sometimes they do that on me.
Um...
So, I like how reporters, they won't say, well, I think that for all of his tough talk, he's ducking face to face.
They won't say, well, it leaves him open to this kind of criticism.
Now, he's been roundly praised for this as well.
Supported and praised for this decision to not enter into an abusive environment where other people benefit and he loses.
So, but nobody's talking about that.
Well, there's criticism.
He has been criticized for this.
It's like, say it yourself, weasel bag, or don't quote other people without sources.
I heard that you were, huh?
Given Trump's past flirtations with boycotting Fox, many will doubt his declaration until they see the other candidates take the debate stage on Thursday night without him.
See, he's just been flirting with boycotting Fox.
No, I'm not speaking for Donald Trump.
I'm just telling you what I would do is that if you've got some damn standards, you don't put yourself into abusive situations which profit other people and do nothing for you.
Why?
He's already the frontrunner.
Does he need them?
Of course not.
He's got the intranet has come around.
You may not have noticed.
So they go on to say the Republican debates have become must-see television.
So basically, it's like a sitcom.
You've got to see it.
It's the season finale.
In part because of the allure of Trump's star power and unpredictable candidacy.
See, he's just, he's unpredictable.
You don't know if he's going to show up in scuba gear.
You don't know if he's going to come in Douglas Fairbanks style through the window.
You have no idea if he's going to drill himself up with an auger.
You have no idea.
No idea whatsoever.
He's going to face the audience?
Is he going to do totally unpredictable?
Is he going to speak in Urdu, Swahili, some clicking language?
We have no idea.
Is he just going to mime the whole thing?
So unpredictable.
He's not unpredictable.
All the issues that Donald Trump is talking about, he has been consistently talking about, at least since he announced his candidacy, not really unpredictable at all.
So people, like they're saying, well people are just, you know, he's got star power and he's unpredictable and he's a show and he's a showman.
No, people don't give up two and a half hours of their life to watch a series of talking heads because they just want some yucks from crazy Donald.
No, it's because he's talking about issues that really matter.
A conversation which the media has steadfastly pushed back, rejected and denied for 50 plus years.
Finally, someone's coming along with the balls to talk about it.
And that's why people are tuning in.
But to strip it of all its meaning is natural because the media is threatened by this kind of stuff.
The reporter goes on to say, quote, See, he just thinks it.
You know, Steph just thinks that the world is a sphere.
How about you find out if the world is a sphere?
No, no, no.
No, see, that's work.
That goes against the lefty narrative.
He thinks they've been taking advantage of him by selling advertisements.
Well, of course they have.
Trump shows up and Fox Network makes millions of dollars they otherwise wouldn't have made.
It's that simple.
Now, why on earth would you show up To a debate where you're going to be insulted and slandered and put down, with the outcome being that the people who are putting you down, insulting you, are going to make millions of dollars.
Wouldn't he be a wildly incompetent dealmaker if he thought that was even remotely a good deal?
Why should the networks continue to get rich on the debates?
Trump told reporters at a news conference in Marshalltown.
Why do I have to make Fox rich?
See, this is...
You don't understand, you media people!
Or maybe you do, and you're...
I don't know.
Let that sentence trail off to its own demise.
But he is...
Winning the debate by not showing up.
You know, it's like that old game, that old movie War Games, Matthew Broderick, right, from the 80s?
Funny game, the only way to win is not to play.
See, if he showed up, he would show that he himself was basically paying to be abused.
It would be sort of an S&M situation rather than a presidential debate.
So he's showing people that he will not show up Where it is a loss for him.
He is standing his ground.
He says, this is going to be bad for me.
Why on earth would I do it?
That's exactly what he's saying to America.
America is getting the bad end of trade deals, is getting the bad end of immigration deals, is getting the bad end of every deal that the government puts its rubber stamp to.
And so he's saying, this is a bad deal, so I'm not going to do it, exactly as I'm promising to not make bad deals for America.
If he showed up at this debate, he would have lost before he started.
God, I don't know why people find this so hard to understand, but they do, apparently.
So he's going to host a competing event in the state, signed to raise money for wounded veterans.
He's the first candidate in modern memory, they say.
It was a draw from a debate and blah, blah, blah.
Trump has long objected to the participation of Fox News anchor Megan Kelly as one of the three moderators.
She's claiming she's treated him unfairly with both her questioning of him at last August's debate and a commentary since then.
Now, Trump also said that a, quote, wise guy press release that the network issued earlier on Tuesday belittling him was inappropriately antagonistic and childish.
And it really, really was.
So he says, look, they're treating me unfairly, so I'm not going to go.
Which is exactly what you would want to do in a negotiation, right?
Of course, right?
I mean, if you say, here's the things I want out of this negotiation, and people say, well, we're not going to give you any of these things, and we're going to pour hot coffee on you, and then we're going to key your car.
Would you go to the meeting?
Of course you wouldn't.
Oh, no, you're boycotting, and you're running away from the meeting, and you can't handle the tough questions.
It's like, no, I just don't want my car keyed, and I don't want hot coffee spilled on my lap when I know I'm not going to get anything I want.
Why would any sane human being show up to such a situation?
So, just as a backstory, so he's saying, oh, they're treating me unfairly, and he said, look, it's not just my opinion.
It's not just my opinion.
Thousands and thousands of people on Twitter have also said that debate moderation by Megyn Kelly last August was unfair.
She was asking me all these questions about me being a misogynist and so on.
So, Fox put out a...
A quote press release.
It's a mocking press release, I assume.
Fox's statement said that the network officials, quote, had 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.
Now, that's pissy, stupid, not funny, passive aggression to the nth degree.
Mom would be proud.
And so they're saying, well, look, if you can't handle unfairness from our moderators, how can you handle unfairness?
In the world outside of Fox News, right?
The Ayatollah and Putin.
But of course, if either Putin or Ayatollah say to Donald Trump, they're going to treat him unfairly, they're going to attempt to rip him off, they're going to insult him and take his money, of course he's not going to show up to the meeting.
Of course not.
I mean, one of the things that's supposed to have brought down the Soviet Union was Ronald Reagan walking away from arms limitation talks.
In Reykjavik, I think it was.
He just walked away.
Walk out of a bad deal.
Of course you do.
Of course you do.
I mean, if somebody wants to charge you, I don't know, $50,000 for a lot of car, you're going to walk out.
Oh no, it's a boycott.
He can't handle the tough salesman.
It's like, no, I'm just not interested in the car.
Not interested.
Doesn't work for me.
Thanks.
Come back for something else.
Now, the statement from Fox News also added that Trump, quote, has his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.
Oh, look, he'll go to meetings with Putin if Putin is going to deal with him in a manner that is going to be win-win, or at least win for America.
That's what he's saying.
He's saying we lose all the time, so I'm only going to go to meetings where I can win.
He can't win at Fox, so he's not going to the meeting.
This is exactly what he's been campaigning on and exactly what his book is about.
Should not come as a shock.
After reading it, Trump said, I said, bye-bye.
He said, Fox is playing games.
They can't toy with me like they toy with everybody else.
Let them have the debate.
Let's see how they do with the ratings.
By announcing that he will not debate, the article goes on, Trump likely will dominate news coverage and deny Cruz and other opponents a face-to-face confrontation before Iowa Republicans go to caucus.
I love this impartiality.
Listen to this.
Trump's decision also allows him to avoid direct questioning from Kelly and her co-moderators.
Brett Berler and Chris Wallace.
At a time when he has come under increased scrutiny over his past positions on social issues that are important to many Iowa Republicans, you see.
He's coming under increased scrutiny.
Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I think you've been insulted about this, and I'm going to mention it.
Oh, look, you've been insulted.
I think you're under increased scrutiny, so I'm going to mention it.
So, look, you're under increased scrutiny.
They're just puppet masters with a sledgehammer, I'm telling you.
Now, they go out and get reactions from Trump's rivals.
As you'll see here, other than some throwaway comments by Trump, nobody who supports Trump's decision has been quoted in the article.
Of course not, right?
Because you wouldn't want it to be fair and balanced.
So then the reporter goes on to quote people who are Trump's opponents.
The reaction from Trump's rivals ranged from criticism to mockery.
So they're giving a big bullhorn...
To all of Trump's opponents.
And of course, you know, I mean, that's like getting a character reference from a guy who's up on a wrestling mat with you, trash talking you in front of the cameras.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who has been Trump's most persistent tormentor of late.
Oh, my God.
I've got to start wearing, like, my media splody head crash helmet because it's all scanners all the time.
I don't really think he's been Trump's most persistent tormentor of late, because Trump is, like, way up in the polls, and Jeb Bush is barely a mosquito stain on somebody's boot.
So it's really not much of a tormentor.
So, Flora, he tweeted, Jeb Bush tweeted, Do you know who else is scared of tough questions from Fox and Megyn Kelly?
Barack Obama.
Enough whining.
So basically, he's saying that the guy who actually became president was too smart to go on Fox.
You know the guy who is president?
He was too smart to go on Fox.
So what are you doing?
You're not going on Fox if you want to be president.
Does Jeb Bush have anybody who holds up a mirror to his brain breathing apparatus to see if it fogs up at all?
Crew said on Mark Levin's radio show, quote, if Donald is afraid to defend his record, that speaks volumes if he thinks Megyn Kelly is so scary.
What does he think he'll do with Russian President Vladimir Putin?
Putin has something to offer Trump.
He has something to offer Trump in terms of oil, in terms of natural resources, in terms of helping out with the European crisis, in terms of helping to keep the peace somewhere in the Middle East, in terms of a wide variety of issues.
Not starting World War III in Ukraine.
Ukraine might not be a bad start.
So, Trump and Putin have things to offer each other, which could result in a win-win negotiation.
There's nothing for Trump to gain by going on Fox, and everything for Fox to gain.
Fox wins, Trump loses.
If he was a bad businessman, if he was vainglorious, if he was a narcissist, if he was just...
A megalomaniac who loved the spotlight, he'd go on the show.
But he's not.
He's saying there's nothing in it for me, which is exactly the message he wants to communicate to the American public.
I will not take bad deals, so make me president.
Now, Cruz challenged Trump to one-on-one debates sometimes over the next week.
At an event Tuesday night, Cruz said, Donald is a fragile soul.
You know, if she asks him mean questions, I mean, his hair might stand on end.
He likened it to skipping a job interview.
See, in a job interview, you're trying to gain a value.
And they don't make money off you showing up.
In fact, they spend money because they have to have someone interview you, which costs the company money.
So it's just...
If this guy likens a debate with a hostile moderator when you don't even need it and they make money and you lose credibility, if he thinks that's like a job interview, I think he may have forgotten a little bit about the free market stuff that he was interested in when he was younger.
Anyway.
So this was not the...
First time that Trump, in the past, he said, I mean, you might not do it.
He said, this is not the first time that Trump has threatened to boycott a debate.
It's not a boycott if you don't show up.
You know, if a woman asks me out and I say, I don't want to go out with you because I'm happily married, I'm not boycotting her.
I'm not.
If somebody says, here, would you like a job?
I say, no, I've got a job as a philosopher on the internet.
They'll say, what, that's a thing?
And I'm saying, yeah, it really is.
I'm going about that.
But no, if I say I don't want the job, I'm not boycotting anyone.
It's not showing up to something that's not of value to me.
So this was not the first time Trump had threatened to boycott a debate, though in the past the threats were merely stunts.
See, they're all projecting, because everything in the media is manipulation, so they can't fathom that somebody might have enough...
Self-respect and pride to not show up to an abusive situation and make his abusers rich.
Everything in the media is manipulation, so people in the media can't imagine anyone else doing anything other than being manipulative.
Trump and Kelly tangled at the first GOP debate in August in Cleveland.
The article continues.
Kelly asked Trump to explain offensive comments denigrating women.
And he took offense to the question, you know, just like randomly.
Why are you such a female hater?
You know, he's married to a woman.
He's got daughters.
You know, he has good relationships with women.
So, yeah.
Why do you hate women?
Why are you not part of the war on women?
It's like, why the hell would you want to have anything to do with someone like that?
Madness.
So he's referring to Kelly as a lightweight and a third-rate reporter and so on.
Throughout the controversy, Kelly has held her ground, saying her questions were tough but fair.
So, that's all they need to say about her, I suppose.
Some of Trump's supporters said in interviews Tuesday night that they support his decision because they think he has been treated unfairly in past debates.
So, finally, at the very, very bottom of the article, you get to see a few people who are taught to wear and make America great hats again, and they're finally allowed to give a rebuttal right at the bottom, and it's two non-entities, right?
Nice people, I'm sure, of their own right, but as far as the media goes, they're So everyone who is making fun of Trump or mocking Trump gets front and center all the way through the article.
And at the back, they find a few people sleeping in the car and say, what do you think?
They're like, huh?
So I just wanted to sort of point out, I want to get this video up and out.
I just really wanted to point out how ridiculous it is, these kinds of articles.
And I did read a whole bunch of them.
I just have this one.
I happen to pack even more crazy juice per pound.
But...
Yeah, this is exactly why people are interested in Trump, because he's not going to play these kinds of games.
And he's got the kind of pride to stay out of the spotlight and avoid enriching people who wish him nothing but ill and aren't even remotely objective.
And the media is vastly underestimating the degree to which the general public loathes them and sees right through this kind of manipulation and are looking for someone to smash the remnants of their decaying power.
This is Stefan Molyneux for Free Domain Radio.
Thank you so much.
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