Murdoch Distances Himself From Trump

Former President Donald Trump has already mounted a new run for the presidency, but many of Murdoch’s press outlets are either outright criticizing Trump or flirting with other political leaders, reports The Hill.

And that could hurt Trump’s new bid for the White House, which is already off to a stumbling start amid criticism of him from other Republicans.  

“Trump’s superpower is getting all the coverage. That’s not happening anymore. Fox is not covering him 24 hours a day,” Daniel Cassino, a media expert who wrote a 2016 book about Fox’s influence over American politics, told The Hill earlier this year. “So, it seems that is leading to frustration that he’s not dominating Fox the way he did before.”   

Trump could typically count on several leading hosts at Fox News, and columnists at the New York Post and Wall Street Journal, all owned by Murdoch, during his presidency for supportive or at least sympathetic coverage of his administration and regular attacks on his political enemies.  

But as his first term drew to a close, Trump grew increasingly vocal about his frustrations with Murdoch.  

Things also came to a head on election night 2020 when Fox was the first network to call Arizona for Joe Biden, a decision that infuriated Trump and that led to an effort by officials with his campaign to get Fox to reverse its call.  

After Trump refused to concede, floating unfounded claims about electoral fraud, Murdoch reportedly reached a breaking point with Trump, who complained to the media mogul directly about the Arizona call.