Fox News executive disputes claim Roger Ailes thinks Sarah Palin 'is an idiot'

An executive of the Fox News Channel said Monday that Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes does not think poorly of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

In a profile of Ailes published online Sunday, the New York Magazine cited a "Republican close to Ailes" who claimed that Ailes though Palin was unintelligent and did nothing to "elevate the conservative movement."

“I know for a fact that Roger Ailes admires and respects Sarah Palin and thinks she is smart," Fox News Channel executive vice president of programming Bill Shine told the New York Times. "He also believes many members of the left-wing media are extremely terrified and threatened by her."

"Despite a massive effort to destroy Sarah Palin, she is still on her feet and making a difference in the political world," Shine added. "As for the ‘Republican close to Ailes’ for which the incorrect Palin quote is attributed, when Roger figures out who that is, I guarantee you he or she will no longer be ‘close to Ailes.’”

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