Fox News CEO Roger Ailes continues his media blitz in honor of FNC’s 15th anniversary. Speaking to the AP’s Frazier Moore, Ailes says that while his contract is coming up, he might stick around a little while longer… at FNC or elsewhere.
Ailes’ contract runs out in Summer 2013, after one more rollicking presidential race, and shortly after he turns 73. He says he hasn’t decided if he’ll stay on, or, if not, what’s next.
“The bad news,” Ailes cracks, “is, I just went to my doctor and he said, ‘Other than arthritis, your chart reads like a 40-year-old’s. You’re old, you’re fat and you’re ugly, but you’re not going to die from any of those things immediately.’ So if I still feel like this and somebody offers me a job in June of ’13, I may just take it.”
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The comment that is making the most news from the interview is his explanation for why he hired former Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin as an analyst:
From the start, Ailes has steadfastly denied any such political bias or agenda on the part of his network. Politics, schmolitics: “I hired Sarah Palin because she was hot and got ratings,” he declares.
While some have taken the comment to mean he hired Palin because she was physically attractive, the past tense implies that he was referring to “hot” in the sense that she was popular at the time, and that her influence has waned somewhat since.