Rupert Murdoch tweeted his support for presidential candidate Ben Carson Wednesday evening, but he also appeared to make the assertion that President Barack Obama isn’t really black. Murdoch later apologized, saying that he finds both Carson and Obama to be “charming” men.
News Corp founder and CEO Rupert Murdoch doesn’t tweet a lot, but when he does, he tweets about Ben Carson. In the last week, the 84-year-old CEO mentioned Putin and Russia’s involvement in the Middle East once, and then it was all Ben Carson all the time.
According to Murdoch, the media “underestimates” Carson, and the soft-spoken doctor may be closer to front-runner Donald Trump than anyone realizes.
Reputable IBD poll surprises with Carson at 24 and Trump at 17. Allowing fullest possible margin of error, they would be even.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) October 3, 2015
Murdoch tweeted an advertisement for Ben Carson’s then-upcoming appearance on The Kelly File , which airs on the Fox News Channel, which is owned by News Corp.
The next day, Murdoch tweeted his support for Dr. Carson and his wife, Candy, which was business as usual for the media mogul’s Carson-centric week of tweets. Except for the fact that Murdoch seemed to call into question Barack Obama’s ethnicity.
Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide? And much else.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) October 8, 2015
Five minutes later, Murdoch suggested that people read New York Magazine to learn about “minority community disappointment with POTUS.” However, he neglected to provide a link.
Murdoch apparently turned off his smartphone and went to bed at that point, as the Twittersphere proceeded to unload on the News Corp. CEO for 12 solid hours with no reply.
Some poked fun at the strange way Murdoch ended his tweet.
@rupertmurdoch What about a real white man who runs a media outlet without bias? And much else.
— AshGhebranious (@AshGhebranious) October 8, 2015
Rupert Murdoch, what about a real news outlet that can properly address the racial divide? And much else. pic.twitter.com/0AlG4gxYLu
— Lily Bailey (@LilyBaileyUK) October 8, 2015
Others specifically took issue with Murdoch seeming to question whether or not Barack Obama is really black.
@rupertmurdoch Can you please regularly advise black Americans on which of them is “real”, so they’ll be free of doubt?
— Harry Shearer (@theharryshearer) October 8, 2015
And that touched off another round of an age-old debate regarding race in America.
@theharryshearer @rupertmurdoch A man with a white mother can be no more black than he is white. Esp when raised in white culture.
— Mike & Tony (@Hazakim) October 8, 2015
@Hazakim @rupertmurdoch Read US history. Such ppl have always–even with just one drop of “ink”–been defined as black.
— Harry Shearer (@theharryshearer) October 8, 2015
Rupert Murdoch, at 84 years of age, was also compared to a certain senile cartoon character.
@RonanFarrow pic.twitter.com/8c0ND5tYdc
— Seema Kalia (@seemakalia) October 8, 2015
Murdoch was silent throughout the night. NBC News contacted 21st Century Fox, which Murdoch co-chairs, for a comment on the tweet , but none was forthcoming.
“We don’t comment on his tweets,” Nathanial Brown, a spokesman for 21st Century Fox, told NBC News .
Early the following morning, Murdoch returned to Twitter to apologize for the comment, saying that he hadn’t meant to offend anyone.
Apologies! No offence meant. Personally find both men charming.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) October 8, 2015
It’s hard to imagine the context in which suggesting that Carson would be a “real black president” wouldn’t be offensive, since using the word “real” suggests that there was, at some time, a fake black president.
Unless Murdoch was referring to Bill Clinton, who was once called the first black president by Nobel and Pulitzer Prize laureate Toni Morrison, it seems clear that the News Corp CEO meant Barack Obama.
A report by the Washington Post suggests that, beyond the questionable wisdom of calling President Obama’s ethnicity into question, it is also beyond the ability of any president to “address the racial divide.”
The Washington Post reached out to writer and cultural critic Touré, who suggested that it is simply beyond the ability of any president to personally solve the problem of institutional racism.
“The contours of institutional racism are outside the reach of the presidency,” Touré wrote to the Washington Post . “Racism is so ingrained, systemically and mentally, that not even a President could reasonably be expected to solve race in America.”
Do you believe that this was an innocent misunderstanding and people should just accept Rupert Murdoch’s apology for his tweet?
[Photo credit: Pool, Sean Rayford, Mark Wilson / Getty Images News]
