This extensive profile of Fox News chief Roger Ailes that was published by Vanity Fair yesterday contains the following passage
Lewis then read Ailes a summary of the flap over Democratic operative Hilary Rosen’s comment that Ann Romney, mother of five, had never worked a day in her life. Ailes spun it without hesitation. “Obama’s the one who never worked a day in his life. He never earned a penny that wasn’t public money. How many fund-raisers does he attend every week? How often does he play basketball and golf? I wish I had that kind of time. He’s lazy, but the media won’t report that.” He noticed my arched eyebrows and added, “I didn’t come up with that. Obama said that, to Barbara Walters.” (What Obama said was that he feels a laziness in himself that he attributes to his laid-back upbringing in Hawaii.)
Noted: President Obama is a free loader living off the government dime and plays too much basketball.
You may as well hold up a giant, flashing neon sign.
Roger Ailes may be typically thought of as an opportunistic businessman who has hedged prejudice of various forms to catapult a faux “news” organization into the top rated slot, but it seems pretty clear that he’s also a true believer. And his views can be seen on camera echoed by the likes of Bill O’Reilly who lamented that President Obama won in 2012 because people want more “free stuff.”