Roger Ailes told TVNewser that he was shocked by Karl Rove on election night. Famously, Rove refused to accept that President Obama had won Ohio and challenged the Fox News analysts on air for calling the decision, prompting host Megyn Kelly to bring the decision desk team on air.
Ailes recalled watching the footage: "I turn on the TV and the first thing I see is Rove saying something like, ‘you called Ohio too early.’ And I thought, ‘What the? What is this?’”
Ailes told TVNewser that he gave the command to keep the cameras running throughout the awkward interchange: "So I quickly called [EVP of News] Michael Clemente and I said, ‘Michael, whatever you do, don’t go to commercial. Don’t leave the screen.'"
“As it turned out, Rove was wrong. He backed down. Our guys were right," said Ailes.
Shares