Just how influential Rupert Murdoch remains, whether he still has the ability to make or break political careers, looms large in Republican circles ahead of what portends to be a contentious 2024 presidential primary race. Bloomberg claims the party is split between a zealous base still devoted to Trump and those hankering for a less controversial challenger in the form of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Fox News has shown a clear preference for DeSantis, according to Donald Trump, who has spent recent days attacking the network. “Fox is working overtime for DeSanctus, but they are failing—Look at the Polls. We are MAGA!” the former president posted this week on Truth Social, his social media platform.
Murdoch’s ability to influence the political landscape was the stuff of legend from his native Australia to both sides of the Atlantic. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair went so far as to say in an official inquiry a decade ago that he was afraid to stand up to him.
Dominion, a voting machine maker, accuses Fox News and Fox Corp. of helping to promote false claims that the company flipped millions of electronic ballots away from Trump in the election as part of a vast conspiracy.
The company says Dominion “took an extreme, unsupported view of defamation law that would prevent journalists from basic reporting.”
The lawsuit not only put Murdoch’s media empire under scrutiny, but also reveals that he doesn’t have complete control of some his most high-profile on-air commentators who remain loyal to Trump.
The Murdoch-owned New York Post and the Wall Street Journal have decidedly soured on the former president, pointing out in editorials that he has lost most of the elections he has played a role in since 2018.
That puts the network at a cross-roads — to follow in the footsteps of unabashedly conspiracy-driven outlets like One America News Network or to be a conservative but fact-based news organization.
Political journalists and other experts say the credibility crisis at Fox might not have happened under Roger Ailes, the former Fox executive driven out over allegations of sexual harassment.
They say he kept a tighter rein on the talk show hosts, particularly during key moments like election night coverage and maintained a stronger distinction between opinion and news, even as the network promoted Trump’s upstart candidacy in 2015 and 2016.
Fox News gave its Trump-leaning on-air personalities wide latitude to discuss Trump’s grievances for weeks by hosting the former president’s surrogates and hinting at evidence of massive election fraud that never materialized, according to Dominion.
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