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Monica Lewinsky Says Roger Ailes’ Dream Was Her Nightmare

May 23, 2017  •  Post A Comment

Monica Lewinsky offered her own take on longtime Fox News boss Roger Ailes, who died May 18 at age 77. Lewinsky wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times that Ailes was a key player when her relationship with then-President Bill Clinton came to light in the 1990s.

“Mr. Ailes, a former Republican political operative, took the story of the affair and the trial that followed and made certain his anchors hammered it ceaselessly, 24 hours a day,” Lewinsky wrote. “It worked like magic: The story hooked viewers and made them Fox loyalists. For the past 15 years, Fox News has been the No. 1 news station; last year the network made about $2.3 billion.”

Lewinsky adds: “Some experts have noted that viewers found Fox for the first time because of the crisis. John Moody, a Fox executive editor, reflected on that period: ‘The Lewinsky saga put us on the news map.’ As he put it in another interview: ‘Monica was a news channel’s dream come true.’”

“Their dream was my nightmare,” Lewinsky writes. “My character, my looks and my life were picked apart mercilessly. Truth and fiction mixed at random in the service of higher ratings. My family and I huddled at home, worried about my going to jail — I was the original target of Kenneth Starr’s investigation, threatened with 27 years for having been accused of signing a false affidavit and other alleged crimes — or worse, me taking my own life. Meantime, Mr. Ailes huddled with his employees at Fox News, dictating a lineup of talking heads to best exploit this personal and national tragedy.”

We encourage readers to click here to go to The New York Times to read Lewinsky’s piece in full.

5 Comments

  1. Anything to make a buck.

  2. I can honestly say, I didn’t become a “Fox News Loyalist” because of the Monica Lewinsky coverage. Poor, poor Monica…

  3. Yes, it was Roger Ailes who forced her to have an affair with the President. How about a story on the former president taking advantage of an intern, oh wait he’s a democrat, so that’s ok.

    • Strawman! Right there, I see one. Stop doing this, whoever you are, all of you.

      All I know is what I remember, being a young person in those times, and what I read in this little blurb. Based on the summary, the point she’s making is how doggedly he ran with the story, and while there’s no evidence either way I don’t see Ms. Lewinsky trying to minimize her role in what happened; it’s well-documented.

      False-equivalencies and strawman arguments have taken the place of political discourse in this country and I’m sick of it.

  4. Did anyone ask what the Clintons and Democrats paid her the last 20 years to stay under cover and quiet?

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