"Some wondered if Trump had orchestrated the departure of (Shepard Smith of Fox News)..."

[Towlie]

Shepard Smith, Fox News Anchor, Abruptly Departs From Network

Some wondered if Mr. Trump had orchestrated the departure of his least-favorite Fox News anchor through a private meeting this week between Rupert Murdoch, the mogul who controls the network, and Mr. Trump’s attorney general, William Barr.

[More on the meeting between William Barr and Rupert Murdoch.]

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Ya think?

[Towlie]

4. Stop reading my mind! I had almost included that exact comment in my original post.

[BKDem]

2. Why is Barr meeting with Murdoch?

Doesn't he have investigations to obstruct?

[Wounded Bear]

3. Don't forget the investigations he has to create out of thin air...

[world wide wally]

7. Why s the AG of the US traveling around the world on "official business"?

[Crunchy Frog]

9. He can multitask.

[global1]

5. Does Trump Have Kompromat On Murdoch?.....

Murdoch has more money than God. He's got the power of his network behind him. What can Trump do to convince Murdoch to dump Smith?

Murdock can break Trump in a second if he wanted to.

What possibly could Trump use to force Murdoch into dumping Smith?

If I were Trump I'd be more scared of the fact that Smith is leaving Fox. Could Smith's leaving Fox give courage to others that work at Fox to abandon it?

[Imperialism Inc.]

8. If Trump tells the goobers to turn on FOX many of them will.

But more than that, they both share the same goals so it was probably just a discussion about how to best propagandize the FOX viewers rather than an adversarial thing. It's not like Murdoch would be thinking it's important to keep a mildly anti-Trump voice around in the first place.

[Shrike47]

6. Most don't wonder at all, they see this as typical Trump: petty, mean, vindictive.

This firing is why his fellow Republicans fear Trump. He is malicious and successful at hurting his perceived enemies, however unsuccessful he may be at governing.

[smirkymonkey]

10. Yes, he did.

I can't prove it, but it's true.

You would think if Trump has so much dirt on people that he can blackmail them like this, that a lot of people would want him "dissappeared". He has to have many more enemies than friends, I would think. I can't imagine that so many powerful people enjoy being treated like puppets on strings for fear of what Trump might reveal about them.

[machoneman]

11. Dumb as a fence post if you believe otherwise! Amazing though that Barr is now acting....

as a political director for Trumpy. Why he's lowered himself to carrying Trump's desire to see Smith gone is amazing since even Nixon never orchestrated a reporter's demise. Heck, a much lower level Trump camp follower could have approached Murdoch and even done so in secret and we'd not have known. Sounds like Trump needed a heavyweight like Barr to get Murdoch to IMMEDIATELY fire Smith as he was terrified of Fox's reporting and the recent poll.

Think about it. Normally, if anything is normal about Trump and his reign of terror, he'd spend a few months berating Smith and even calling for his termination. But here, he wanted instant results. His paranoia over the poll results and Shep's recent reporting has him on a hair-trigger's edge. Perhaps we'll see more immediate Fox departures.

Hey, how about a transcript of what else Barr demanded?