Right-wing media tycoon Rupert Murdoch , who is the chairman of Fox Corporation, reportedly doesn’t have high hopes for President Donald Trump in November. In a Thursday report by Vanity Fair , Gabriel Sherman cited two sources who allegedly claimed the media mogul has told people he doesn’t believe the president is going to win re-election.
“Rupert thinks Trump is going to crash and burn,” one source who spoke to Murdoch about the election was quoted as saying. “It’s a clear-eyed assessment, just based on just looking at the news.”
As Sherman noted, Trump’s relationship with Fox News has continued to deteriorate over recent months as the president continues to voice his displeasure with the network. Notably, on Wednesday, Sherman highlighted that the president blasted Fox News for cutting away from a congressional hearing on police reform.
“Incredible! @FoxNews just took Congressional Hearing off the air just prior to important witness statements,” Trump tweeted. “More like CNN!!! Fox is lost!!!”
As reported by Yahoo News , Trump complained last month that Fox News isn’t making a significant enough effort to re-elect him and other Republicans.
“Many will disagree, but @FoxNews is doing nothing to help Republicans, and me, get re-elected on November 3rd,” he tweeted in May.
According to Yahoo News , Trump’s “frustration” with the Fox News segments unsupportive of his agenda stems from the network’s attempt to reach its audience. Per Pew Research Center, 93 percent of its viewers who use Fox as their primary source of political news self-identify as “Republican” or say they “lean to the party.” However, just 65 percent of Republicans overall said they trusted the network over other competitors.
The New York Times previously called Trump’s relationship with Murdoch one of “convenience.” According to the publication, both men have perceived themselves as enemies of “the establishment,” and both relied on their “powerful friend” and “ruthless fixer” lawyer Roy M. Cohn to drive their upward career trajectories in New York.
With the pair’s relationship allegedly on the rocks, Trump is reportedly looking to take down Murdoch’s conservative cable network. Another story by Sherman claimed that the president perceives Fox News as disloyal to him and is looking to make it pay for this behavior. In particular, the report alleged that an investor group linked to the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. , has purchased a stake in One America News Network (OANN), which appears to be taking the place of Fox News as Trump’s favorite network.
