Topline
Former President Donald Trump blasted Fox News’ billionaire chairman Rupert Murdoch in one of his most scathing criticisms of the right-wing network Wednesday morning, accusing Murdoch of “aiding & abetting the DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA,” following his admission as part of a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit that several Fox News hosts endorsed Trump’s baseless claims the 2020 election was rigged, but that he wished the network took a harder stance in denying it.
Former President Donald Trump attacked Fox News and billionaire chairman Rupert Murdoch in a … [+]
Key Facts
Trump called on Murdoch and “his group of MAGA Hating Globalist RINOS” (Republicans in name only) to “get out of the News Business as soon as possible,” on his social media platform Truth Social, arguing Murdoch “scorns and ridicules” some “BRAVE & PATRIOTIC” hosts who “got it right” about the 2020 election.
Trump also claimed on Truth Social that there are “MASSIVE amounts of proof” supporting his theory the 2020 election was stolen from him, despite those claims being debunked, and his advisors warning him after the election that his allegations were not true.
His remarks follow the release of Murdoch’s deposition in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network from Dominion Voting Systems, in which Murdoch admitted Fox News hosts endorsed Trump’s baseless election claims, but that he wishes the network had been “stronger in denouncing it in hindsight.”
Key Background
Trump had previously labeled Fox News the “RINO Network” after court filings in the defamation lawsuit were released last week showing several hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, rejected Trump’s election denialism off air, but brought on guests who supported his claims anyway. According to Dominion’s complaint, Fox hosts and executives pushed Trump’s claims even though they knew they were false, in a bid to boost ratings. Court filings released last week showed text messages from Ingraham saying, “no serious lawyer could believe what they were saying,” in reference to claims peddled by Trump’s attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, while texts from Carlson showed he believed Powell’s claims were “insane” and “absurd.”
Tangent
Trump, who announced late last year he will run for president in 2024, attacked the network again earlier this week, claiming it promoted Florida Gov. DeSantis (R-Fla.) “so hard and so much” and downplayed a poll it conducted that showed Trump with a 15-point lead over DeSantis in a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary. Trump once again claimed the network had spread “FAKE NEWS” for “barely” showing the results of the poll (Fox News, however, mentioned the poll at least twice since it was released).
Surprising Fact
Even though Trump has ramped up his attacks on Fox News in recent months, his latest criticism is far from his first. He also blasted a Fox News poll in October 2019 that found 51% of voters wanted him impeached and removed from the White House, arguing Fox News has “NEVER had a good” poll of him since he announced his first presidential bid in 2015, and criticized the network again when it called swing-state Arizona for President Joe Biden in 2020.
Further Reading
Trump Blasts Fox News—Again—For Promoting DeSantis ‘So Hard And So Much’ (Forbes)
Stunning Rupert Murdoch deposition leaves Fox News in a world of trouble (The Guardian)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/03/01/trump-attacks-rupert-murdoch-and-fox-news-again-claiming-destruction-of-america-amid-defamation-lawsuit/