Former and currently beleaguered US President Donald Trump may have announced his plans to reclaim the presidency next year, but he shouldn’t expect support from an entity previously counted among his biggest supporters: the media outlets owned and controlled by mogul Rupert Murdoch.
Recent depictions of Trump in Murdoch-owned newspapers and other media entities have not been flattering at all of late – a striking change from the way a number of them, including Fox News, portrayed him in a flattering light throughout his term.
The New York Post, in particular, compared Trump to the nursery rhyme character Humpty Dumpty on its front page, ostensibly jeering at the former leader’s fall from grace by referring to him as Trumpty Dumpty. The article remarked that the Don, as Trump is commonly called, failed to build the wall between the United States and Mexico he promised supporters, and that it is highly unlikely that the Republican Party will be able to salvage anything from his ruined reputation.
The editorial team of the Wall Street Journal, on the other hand, scored the former president, referring to him as the Republicans’ biggest loser in light of the way he supported underperforming and losing candidates in the recent midterm elections. Among those who got Trump’s nod before the polls were Arizona’s Blake Masters, New Hampshire’s Don Bolduc, and Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania.
According to those close to the Republican Party, the aforementioned losses have hindered the party’s opportunity to drive its proposals forward in both the Senate and Lower House.
The Media Tells the GOP: No More Trump
On Thursday, November 10th, the WSJ also ran an editorial in its print edition extolling the merits of incumbent Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a more appealing alternative to Trump for the 2024 race.
Meanwhile, WSJ columnist and veteran newsman John Podhoretz reminded readers of Trump’s toxic mindset in his column online, going so far as to refer to the former president as the political equivalent of pesticide and the most intense vote repellent in the nation’s history.
The Post also ran its own editorial wherein DeSantis was asked to consider the White House next year. The previous day’s edition of the widely-circulated tabloid also featured DeSantis in a triumphant pose beneath a cheekily-worded headline: DeFuture.
Interestingly, Fox News, the media outlet which has been vocal and strident in its support of Trump, has kept mum in light of the former president’s announcement.
