Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chairman ousted last month over charges of sexual harassment, is advising Donald J. Trump in preparation for the all-important presidential debates this fall.
Mr. Ailes is aiding the Republican nominee as Mr. Trump turns his attention to the first debate with Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent,on Sept. 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island, according to four people briefed on the move, who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Two of them said Mr. Ailes’s role could extend beyond the debates, which Mr. Trump’s advisers see as crucial to vaulting him back into strong contention for the presidency after self-inflicted wounds that have eroded his standing in public opinion polls.
For Mr. Ailes, being connected with Mr. Trump’s campaign could be a form of redemption after he was pushed out of the powerful network that he helped build. And for Mr. Trump, having Mr. Ailes taking a hand in his preparations for the debates adds immeasurably to the messaging and media expertise in his corner — and could raise alarms within Mrs. Clinton’s camp about just how aggressive Mr. Trump plans to be in those encounters.
Mr. Ailes’s intimate knowledge of how Fox News approaches debates could also give Mr. Trump an important edge should one of the network’s journalists be chosen to moderate one of the three events.
It was not clear when Mr. Ailes began helping the campaign. He resigned his post at Fox News on July 21 amid an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by former female employees that occurred after a lawsuit by the former anchor Gretchen Carlson.
It was also not immediately known whether Mr. Ailes, who received $40 million in an exit agreement with Fox News, would be paid for work on the campaign, or how much time he would devote to it. Mr. Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, is not being paid. Susan Estrich, a lawyer who is representing Mr. Ailes, did not respond to emails and phone messages.
Mr. Ailes met with Mr. Trump on Sunday at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., and spoke about a range of matters related to the presidential race, including campaign advertisements, according to a person briefed on the discussion.
In a telephone interview late Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Trump said Mr. Ailes was not formally involved in his debate preparations, and chafed at the suggestion that he even needed to prepare for them. “I’ll speak with Roger, but this is not a formal thing,” Mr. Trump said. “I don’t have a debate coach. I’ve never had a debate coach.” He insisted that Mr. Ailes had “no role.”
Before he founded Fox News in 1996, Mr. Ailes spent years as a respected political strategist with a pit bull style. He was a top adviser to Richard M. Nixon’s presidential campaign in 1968, softening the candidate’s hard-edge, unapproachable image.
He was also a sought-after debate coach, working with President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and readying Vice President George Bush for debates with Gov. Michael S. Dukakis of Massachusetts in 1988.
According to Gabriel Sherman’s 2014 book on Mr. Ailes, “The Loudest Voice in the Room,” Mr. Ailes played a crucial role before Reagan’s second debate with Vice President Walter F. Mondale in 1984. During a prep session, he asked Reagan, who had performed badly in the first debate, how he would handle being asked about his age.
National Polling Average
Hillary Clinton
45%
Donald J. Trump
39%
The question came quickly, and Reagan’s answer, which went down in the annals of witty debate lines, effectively quashed the subject: “I will not make age an issue of this campaign,” he said. “I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
In 1988, Mr. Ailes was enlisted for an image makeover of Mr. Bush, urging the patrician Republican to model himself after the actor Gary Cooper. In debate prep, Mr. Ailes launched rapid questions at Mr. Bush to hone his reflexes, and directed the candidate to slow his sentences and deepen his voice, according to Mr. Sherman’s book.
Mr. Ailes also worked on lower-level political races, including the unsuccessful New York City mayoral campaign of Rudolph W. Giuliani in 1989. Mr. Giuliani has emerged as one of Mr. Trump’s most devoted surrogates in the presidential campaign.
Mr. Ailes and Mr. Trump themselves have a long relationship, although it became fraught at points during the Republican primaries.
Still, Mr. Ailes’s involvement is certain to stoke controversy, both for the ongoing sexual harassment cases and for the role that Fox News played in covering Mr. Trump’s candidacy — and elevating him as a potential presidential candidate beginning in 2011.
One of Mr. Trump’s longest-lived and highest-profile campaign controversies was a dispute with the Fox News host Megyn Kelly, with whom he clashed angrily beginning with the first Republican primary debate a year ago. Afterward, Mr. Trump implied that she had been agitated during the first Republican debate because she was menstruating.
Mr. Trump insisted that Ms. Kelly had treated him unfairly and berated the network for suggesting that she moderate at a later debate. The dispute led Mr. Trump to skip the final debate before the Iowa caucuses, which Ms. Kelly helped moderate on Fox News.
Notably, when Mr. Ailes left the network in July, Mr. Manafort, the Trump campaign chairman, denied suggestions that Mr. Ailes would be advising the campaign — but the candidate left the door open.
Asked by Chuck Todd of NBC News on July 24 whether Mr. Ailes was going to advise the campaign, Mr. Trump replied: “I don’t want to comment. But he’s been a friend of mine for a long time.” He called Mr. Ailes a “very, very good person” and said, “A lot of people are thinking he’s going to run my campaign.”
Mr. Ailes brings enormous experience in preparing for presidential debates, but his addition to Mr. Trump’s team also raises intriguing questions.
Mr. Trump’s support among female voters has eroded during the course of his campaign, after a number of incendiary statements.
Mr. Trump’s challenge during the crowded Republican primary debates was far less pronounced than it will be in what could be a head-to-head against Mrs. Clinton over 90 minutes. He was one of 10 candidates onstage and could often filibuster his way through questions or avoid them entirely as his rivals consumed airtime — an approach that would be untenable in a one-on-one or even a three-way matchup including the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson.
What is more, some of Mr. Trump’s worst moments in the primary debates involved Ms. Kelly and Carly Fiorina, the only woman in the Republican nomination contest. Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly swatted away accusations of sexism during the campaign, will probably require coaching on how to handle the potential first female president in a debate.
Whether Mr. Ailes can best address that concern is unclear. He is deeply familiar with Republican lines of attack against Mrs. Clinton, and with the controversies that have surrounded her and her husband going back to their days in the White House. But even before the sexual harassment allegations against Mr. Ailes, there were questions about whether he had adequately defended Ms. Kelly in her fight against Mr. Trump in 2015.
