A report from Vanity Fair claims Fox News primetime host Sean Hannity is in frequent contact with former President Donald Trump to smooth relations before the first Republican presidential debate later this summer.
“They talk all the time,” a senior Trump campaign official told the magazine.
Trump has repeatedly claimed he would not participate in the first two debates. He has shared that due to his large lead in the polls, he will not benefit from a debate and only give his challengers a higher profile. Secondly, Trump has reportedly told staffers behind the scenes that he wouldn’t want to be part of a debate moderated by Bret Baier. Baier and Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum are scheduled to moderate the debut debate.
However, he recently sat down for more than an hour with Baier for an interview, with the Fox News anchor pressing him for answers on his handling of classified documents that led him to become the first President ever charged with a federal crime.
According to the report from Vanity Fair, a former Fox News employee believes Trump is truthful in his stance that he’ll sit out the debates.
“I don’t think he’s going to do it. He knows Fox hates him. And he despises the Murdochs,” the former employee said.
Including Trump in the debates is an obvious case Fox News would try to make. His participation, or lack thereof, will likely affect the television ratings in the August debate scheduled for Milwaukee.
