Petraeus For President: Fox News Urged Him To Run

“Petraeus for President” is what Fox news founder and current chairman Roger Ailes wanted to hear last year. While General Petraeus was still serving in Afghanistan, Roger Ailes reportedly told sent Kathleen T. McFarland to convey a message in person. If President Obama offered Petraeus the job of CIA Director instead of the chairmanship of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Roger Ailes felt that Petraeus should decline the offer, resign from the Obama administration, and run Petraeus for president as a Republican.

As previously reported on The Inquisitr, David Petraeus has been embroiled in an affair scandal which eventually forced the retired general to step down as head of the CIA. He also made headlines by suggesting that the CIA knew about the terrorist attack immediately in Libya and that the Benghazi scandal was caused by one of the Federal agencies or someone in the Obama administration.

According to the Washington Post, it was implied that Roger Ailes, who was a Republican political consultant for decades prior to running Fox News, could resign from his position at Fox to run Petraeus’ presidential campaign. Petraeus also spoke about the possibility that Rupert Murdoch would “bankroll” the 2012 Petraeus presidential campaign.

Eventually Petraeus turned down the offer McFarland was pitching on behalf of Roger Ailes:

“It’s never going to happen,” Petreaus said before adding an ironic twist. “My wife would divorce me, and I love my wife. We have a beautiful house…I just want to live in it. I’ve never spent a night in it.”

While turning down the offer, Petraeus still left the door open for a future presidential bid.

“I love Roger…he’s a brilliant guy,” Petraeus said. “If I ever ran, I’d take him up on his offer.”

Roger Ailes does not deny sending McFarland to pitch Petraeus on a presidential run. “It was more of a joke, a wiseass way I have,” Ailes said, explaining that he thought the Republican primary field “needed to be shaken up, and Petraeus might be a good candidate.”

Ailes also thought McFarland was taking the offer to Petraeus too seriously.

“It sounds like she thought she was on a secret mission in the Reagan administration,” scorned Ailes. “She was way out of line…It’s someone’s fantasy to make me a kingmaker. It’s not my job.”

What do you think about Petraeus for President? Should Fox News have tried to involve itself so blatantly in political affairs of state?