Is Murdoch sick of DeSantis? Billionaire media mogul fed up with Florida governor’s ‘week’ of attention and still wants Virginia Gov. Glenn Yonkin to enter race against Trump
Rupert Murdoch is reportedly losing faith in Florida’s governor. Ron DeSantis Murdoch thinks DeSantis’ 2024 campaign is being sloppy, with Florida governor not leading polls against Trump
Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch is reportedly eyeing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as his 2024 pick for the Fox News empire.
Rolling Stone came out with a piece on Tuesday detailing how Murdoch has ‘personally won’ DeSantis’ anti-wake crusade that has been the focus of his GOP primary run thus far.
Sources say the owner of Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post believe DeSantis is campaigning recklessly and has made mistakes — including the release of a video pushing former President Donald Trump to be nicer to the LGBTQ community than DeSantis, 44, would be. Which came off as weird and homophobic.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Murdoch still wants to see Virginia Gov. Glenn Yonkin jump into the 2024 race.
‘They are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away,’ a Fox insider told Rolling Stone of DeSantis’ current standing with Rupert and son Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News’ top executives.
Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch (left) is troubling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (right) as the Fox News empire’s handpicked 2024 candidate.
According to Rolling Stone, Murdoch’s team has grown increasingly frustrated with DeSantis’ lapses, the candidate’s perceived inability to connect with voters and his lackluster poll numbers.
Trump still holds an overwhelming lead in every single opinion poll conducted since DeSantis entered the race in late May.
Over the past two years, the Times said, Murdoch has privately told people that despite Trump’s popularity with Fox News viewers, the billionaire believes he is bad for the Republican Party.
Under Trump, the GOP lost first the House, then the Senate and then the White House.
The 2022 midterms, predicted to be a ‘red wave’, saw Democrats gain one seat in the Senate and Republicans only a slim majority in the House.
Some of the blame falls on Trump-backed candidates.
Trump has been openly hostile to Fox News even before announcing his 2024 candidacy, though will still appear on the network.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Rupert Murdoch still expects Virginia Gov. Glenn Yonkin to run for president in 2024.
Former President Donald Trump Dominant in 2024 Election, Fox News Host Asks DeSantis Why
The Murdochs became interested in DeSantis because he was similar to Trump but perhaps more electable.
But then DeSantis decided to run his campaign to the right of the former president and make accusations of the culture war front and center.
He signed a six-week abortion ban in Florida — something that could be poisoned on the 2024 national ballot.
‘[Rupert’s] The understandable concern is that we might end up stuck with Trump anyway,’ a senior Fox source told Rolling Stone. ‘And DeSantis is underperforming.’
‘Anyone who can see… [and the Murdochs]They are also looking at it,’ added the source.
Murdoch’s news agencies have also been tough on DeSantis of late.
During an appearance Sunday on Fox, host Maria Bartiromo — a Trump fan — bluntly asked DeSantis, ‘What’s going on with your campaign?’
‘There was a lot of optimism about running for president at the beginning of the year. … what happened?’
DeSantis says that this is only the media ‘narrative.’ Feedback.
“The media doesn’t want to nominate me. I think that is very, very clear. Why? Because they know I’m going to beat Biden,’ the Florida governor responded. ‘But more importantly, they know that I actually give these things.’