Conservative billionaire Rupert Murdoch’s powerful media empire appeared to turn its back on Donald Trump on Thursday, calling the former president a “loser” who is showing “increasingly poor judgment” following the midterm elections.
Just days before he is expected to announce his 2024 White House candidacy, the Wall Street Journal, the flagship of Murdoch’s News Corp, issued an editorial declaring that “Trump is the Republican Party’s biggest loser,” pointing to the disappointing performance by the party at halftime on Tuesday elections.
The cover of NewsCorp’s New York Post tabloid showed Trump against a precarious wall as “Trumpty Dumpty” who “had a big fall” while voting, blaming him for Republicans’ failure to get past Democratic rivals when voting.
And the highly influential television network Fox News hailed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is said to be Trump’s biggest rival for the party’s 2024 presidential election.
“The biggest midterm election winner was without a doubt Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose landslide victory in the state of Florida was breathtaking,” wrote Fox columnist Liz Peek.
“The biggest loser? Donald Trump,” she said.
– Trump an “ambiguous blessing” –
After supporting him during his 2017-2021 presidency, Fox, a Murdoch arm separate from News Corp, hasn’t completely abandoned Trump, still the most powerful figure in the Republican Party.
But even the network’s biggest star, talk show host Tucker Carlson, attacked the Republican establishment for Tuesday’s ballot box failure, blaming the ex-president at least in part.
“Many others say that Donald Trump is the reason Republicans haven’t done as well as they hoped. That’s a more complicated question,” he said late Wednesday.
“The truth is, politically, Trump has always been a mixed blessing.”
The Murdoch outlets are among the most influential sources of information for US conservatives who unabashedly support Republicans and attack Democrats.
Blaming Trump for election disappointments while praising DeSantis could shape public opinion ahead of the 2024 presidential race.
Trump is expected to announce his candidacy next week, while DeSantis, who initially needed to win re-election for Florida governor, has only hinted that he could fight for the White House.
– DeFUTURE –
Indeed, Republicans made significant gains in the House of Representatives on Tuesday and are expected to wrest control of the body from Democrats when the pending races are decided.
But the party had expected to beat the Democrats harder and easily seize both the House and Senate – still undecided – and some key governorships.
Instead, a number of candidates closely allied and backed by Trump failed to secure victories.
“Trumpy Republican candidates failed at the ballot box in states that were clearly winnable,” wrote the Wall Street Journal.
DeSantis, meanwhile, didn’t tap Trump for support in his race Tuesday, and he clinched a massive re-election victory.
On the cover of its first post-election issue, the New York Post celebrated DeSantis as “DeFUTURE.”
Meanwhile, Trump said, “The fate of your candidates on Tuesday looks dreadful to your increasingly poor judgment, which grows in tandem with your desperation.”
Trump appeared to confirm his divorce from the Murdoch Empire on Thursday.
“Even though I picked so many winners, I have to endure the fake news. For me, Fox News was always gone,” he wrote on Truth Social.
