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Presidents come and go. Rupert Murdoch is staying.
For those wondering how Mr. Murdoch, the 80-year-old conservative-leaning media mogul, would react to President Trump’s electoral defeat, the past few days have provided a complicated answer, well suited to the mercurial nature of Mr. Murdoch’s world. .
The New York Post, the Murdoch tabloid that attacked Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter ahead of the election, splashed a beaming Mr. Biden on his Sunday cover – “IT’S JOE TIME” – and described Mr. Trump as “downcast” and misguided in his efforts to claim the election was a fraud. The Sun, Mr Murdoch’s London outpost, has taken Fleet Street to new heights of ingenuity by likening the President’s defeated face to a rustle of skin on actress Famke Janssen’s kneecap.
The Wall Street Journal, which rejected the Post’s attack on Hunter Biden, has dismissed Mr. Trump’s fraud claims, and its conservative opinion page is pushing the president towards a gracious concession. Fox News – home to “Hannity” and “Fox & Friends,” instigators and supporters of Mr. Trump’s rise – refused to withdraw an election night screening of a Biden victory in Arizona despite intense pressure from aides of Mr. Trump, who reached Mr. Murdoch in England to plead their case.
And yet, just as a Murdoch-Trump divorce appeared to be underway, Fox News’ prime-time stars – who have been operating more or less on their own since the exit of the network’s co-founder, Roger Ailes – have adopted parts of Mr. Trump. sully-the-results strategy, hitting even colleagues who have accurately described Mr. Biden as the winner of the election.
“A lot of people haven’t called Arizona,” Sean Hannity told viewers on his Monday night show, before throwing a dagger at Fox News’ ruling office: “Those who called early made a huge mistake. ” Mark Levin, a right-wing radio star with a Fox News weekend show, attack Fox News Sunday presenter Chris Wallace for calling Mr. Biden the winner. And Tucker Carlson gave a not-so-veiled blow Monday to his Fox News colleague Neil Cavuto, who won liberal Twitter hosannas by interrupting an appearance by Mr. Trump’s press secretary and saying he didn’t could not in good conscience broadcast it. fictitious allegations of electoral fraud.
“In a democracy, you cannot ignore honest questions from citizens,” Carlson said. “You can’t just cut off the blanket that you don’t like.”
Efforts to understand Mr. Murdoch’s media universe are often compared to Kremlinology. But Mr Murdoch’s former and current associates have said his response to the loss of Mr Trump could come down to another Cold War term: realpolitik.
“He will do as he has done in other cases, which is to adapt to a new reality,” said a former consiglier, who like others interviewed for this article requested anonymity to speak frankly of a man who values discretion.
Mr Murdoch, who has chaired newspapers and TV stations for over 50 years, knows the opportunity awaits no matter who is temporarily in power: some of Fox News’ highest ratings and profits took place under the Obama administration, when the network was a spot gathering for dismayed conservatives, the same phenomenon that fueled MSNBC’s success with liberals in the Trump era.
“Fox News Channel has been on the air since 1996,” said Christopher Balfe, a right-wing media impresario who has developed digital projects for conservative stars including former Fox News host Megyn Kelly. “They have been around for several presidents and there will be many more.”
Fox News reached new heights of influence in the Trump era – it was the highest-rated network in all of prime-time television last summer – but it’s easy to forget that it was the # 1 cable news channel well ahead of New York real estate. the developer has mounted an escalator to the political scene. Many Fox News employees believe the network’s ratings are likely to rise again as an anti-Biden audience seeks help.
“They don’t tend to support losers,” one longtime lieutenant Murdoch observed of the family.
At this point, Mr Murdoch’s publicists – who declined to comment for this article – have clearly confirmed rumors last month that the mogul did not expect Mr Trump to take over the presidency. And several people who worked with Mr Murdoch have said he harbored no meanness towards Mr Biden and even expressed some admiration for the former vice president on occasion.
It wouldn’t be the first time Mr. Murdoch has remained cowardly to maintain his influence with whoever comes to power. In England, he became an ally of Labor Prime Minister Tony Blair, despite years of support for the Conservative regime. The Biden administration is likely to handle regulatory disputes that could affect Mr. Murdoch’s domestic assets, which include sports and entertainment networks as well as Fox News, The Journal and The Post.
Fox News last week was candid with viewers about Mr. Trump’s low odds, standing behind his appeal to the ruling office in Arizona and on Saturday announcing the network’s projection that Mr. Biden would be the 46th president.
But the recent reluctance of Senator Mitch McConnell and other Republican leaders to acknowledge Mr. Biden’s victory may have complicated the equation for the network’s opinion stars, who are loath to end up on the liberal side of the traditional conservative line.
Some prime-time staff, protective of their audience success, were baffled after seeing some viewers turn on the network after the Arizona call; a group of protesters chanted “Fox News sucks!” outside a tabulation center in Phoenix.
On Monday, Mr. Hannity and Mr. Carlson fueled Mr. Trump’s grim tale of a questionable election. “Washington Swamp Joe Biden all desperate they just want to call it a day and stop you from asking legitimate and tough questions about the election,” Mr. Hannity thundered to viewers.
The president appeared to approve: on Tuesday he urged his Twitter followers to watch Mr. Hannity’s program, promising that “ballot corruption will be exposed tonight.” It was her first positive reference to Fox News since Election Day.
Still, Mr. Hannity left himself with options: His criticism of Democrats and the “swamp” is a familiar Fox News attack line that can be easily adapted to a Biden presidency. And Mr. Carlson stopped before saying what Mr. Trump would most like to hear: that he was the real winner last Tuesday.
“If, after answering all the questions, it becomes clear that Joe Biden is the rightful winner of the presidential election, we will accept it and encourage others to accept it as well,” Mr. Carlson said.
Last week Laura Ingraham, who attended Mr. Trump’s appearance on election night to the White House, even raised the possibility of an “unfavorable election result” – the kind of acknowledgment of a reality. annoying that Mr. Trump hates. “If and when this happens,” Ms. Ingraham advised, Mr. Trump should concede with “grace and calm”. It was a pep talk for One’s audience.
Few would expect a radical change in the Murdoch ideology. Mr. Carlson has met frequently in Los Angeles with Mr. Murdoch’s son Lachlan, who is now executive chairman of Fox News’ parent company. Lachlan Murdoch backed Mr. Carlson despite a continued boycott from advertisers and multiple outcry over the host’s inflammatory comments.
Mr Trump’s prospect of launching his own media platform as a competitor to Fox News is often cited as a reason for Rupert Murdoch to keep the president close. But there are a myriad of hurdles before such a business can take off.
Mr. Trump, a mainstream media connoisseur, may balk at the kind of online-only service former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly was looking for. Fox News is available in many more homes than One America News, a right-wing network often cited as a potential ship for Trump TV. Cable companies like Comcast and Spectrum are expected to agree to carry a new Trump-oriented network, and regulations prevent existing channels from abruptly switching formats.
Fox News, meanwhile, just marked its highest-rated prime-time week since the channel started.
“I don’t think there is any fear among the conservative media,” said Mr. Balfe, the right-wing media consultant, “that Biden’s victory is going to hurt.”
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