On Thursday Donald Trump became the Republican presidential nominee on the same day that Roger Ailes rode off into the sunset. These two events are not unrelated.
Ailes was forced out as chairman and chief executive of Fox News amid allegations of sexual harassment; however, the damage has been done. Ailes is the ruthless genius who built and ran Fox News to push and support a right-wing agenda at all costs, even at the cost of the truth, and he succeeded. Of course, he had help–from Rush Limbaugh and others–especially, in capturing the Congress and the Supreme Court (until Justice Scalia died).
As Jane Hall, a former Fox News regular panelist, explains. “The genius of Mr. Ailes at Fox has been repeating the same thing over and over until it is believed by Fox viewers: that it was “unpatriotic” for other media to show dissent about the Iraq war after the attacks of Sept. 11, that Obamacare is a “government takeover,” that President Obama is soft on terrorism and won’t call jihad “jihad,” that Hillary Clinton is crooked because of the investigation into her email. I sincerely doubt we would have had Donald Trump without Roger Ailes.”
It was this environment that spawned Donald Trump. Although Trump does not adhere to contemporary conservative ideology–he has worse ideas–Roger Ailes might still feel that his work is done.