Roger Ailes Says Sarah Palin 'Had No Chance' at Becoming President

Earlier this week, Fox News President Roger Ailes had some choice words for the cameras at The Hollywood Reporter’s 35 Most Powerful People in Media Party, where he slammed Gawker for paying a mystery FNC employee to compose mocking blog posts about the cable news network.

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Ailes is once again making headlines, this time for a comment he made about Fox News contributor Sarah Palin. In a speech Friday at the University of North Carolina, Ailes said the former Alaska governor “had no chance to be president,” reports The Huffington Post.

Palin responded to his comments in an interview with the conservative Web site Breitbart.com, calling his perspective "interesting."

"I wonder if he is aware that the same thing was said about me when I ran for city council, mayor, and eventually governor,” Palin said. "No doubt many people who are told they can’t do something will work that much harder, and they succeed."

Ailes clarified his choice of words in a statement, writing:

“When I hired most of the Republican contributors, none of them had any immediate prospects of becoming President -- I wasn’t referring to any of their long-term prospects, including Governor Palin. I hired all of them because they made for good television at the time. Sarah Palin is young and nobody can predict the future,"

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This is not the first time Ailes has had to address statements attributed to him about Palin. He has been quoted as saying he hired Palin simply because "she was hot and got ratings," and last May, he denied reports he had called Palin “an idiot.”

The two may have a rocky relationship. When Palin was flirting with a presidential bid, she announced her decision not to run on the conservative talk radio program The Mark Levin Show, rather than on Fox News. The move reportedly angered Ailes.

Watch THR’s interview with Ailes’ from the 35 Most Powerful People in Media Party below.