There's only one man at Fox News who Donald Trump reportedly would talk to about his bombshell decision to
boycott Thursday's presidential debate — media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
New York magazine reports the GOP presidential front-runner wasn't taking calls from Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes after the real estate billionaire's announcement Tuesday night.
"Trump advisers are privately telling people that he will only deal with Rupert Murdoch to resolve the dispute," the magazine reports.
The feud has the network in turmoil, the magazine adds — and that includes Ailes' future.
According to New York magazine, Ailes' stewardship at Fox News generates $1 billion in profit.
"But in recent months Murdoch has been attending news meetings at Fox in the wake of a health scare that forced Ailes to take an extended leave of absence," the magazine reports.
"Succession planning at Fox is very much on Murdoch's agenda. If Ailes loses his grip on the Trump situation — and right now it looks like he is — Murdoch will have another reason to worry about the stability of his most valuable asset."
New York also reports the network is now split over Fox News host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly — whom Trump has been vilifying ever since the first Fox News debate Aug. 6 — between allies like Brit Hume and conservative anchors who are angry "that Kelly has become the face of the network."
The magazine reports one unnamed anchor was furious that Kelly hosted Michael Moore on her program Tuesday night — and that the lefty filmmaker defended her against Trump.
"That would be like Rachel Maddow laughing along with Charles Koch as he trashed Hillary Clinton!" New York magazine quotes the anchor saying.
The magazine reports even if Trump's boycott backfires, however, "he's already achieved a historic victory: exploding the myth that a Republican candidate can't openly challenge Fox."