Radar Online
Although Fox News has “largely refrained” from criticizing ex-President Donald Trump publicly, Lachlan Murdoch – the network’s chief executive – has slammed Trump behind closed doors, Radar has learned.
The surprising development came days after numerous reports suggested both Lachlan Murdoch and his father, Fox News patriarch Rupert Murdoch, had given Trump “the cold shoulder.”
But now, according to disgraced CNN host Brian Stelter, the Murdochs have realized that while they disagree with how Trump acts and “behaves,” the ex-president and potential 2024 candidate hopeful is nonetheless still “good for business.”
In fact, according to sources who spoke to Stelter and Oliver Darcy on Reliable Sources, Lachlan Murdoch has gone so far as to claim: “if Trump were to run again, it would be bad for the country.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the New York Times published a report last week that claimed Rupert Murdoch “banned” Trump from Fox News airwaves over the former president’s “refusal to accept his [2020] election loss.”
Although Fox News host Howard Kurtz quickly claimed Trump was the one ignoring the network and choosing not to appear on the network’s programs, Fox News’ reporting on Trump took center stage this week following the FBI’s raid on his Mar-a-Lago home.
Fox News’s reporting on Trump following the raid has “shattered any such illusion” that the Murdochs were “steering” the network in an anti-Trump direction, seemingly proving the theory that although Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch may disagree with Trump privately, they won’t hesitate to cover the controversial politician when it is “good for business.”
Furthermore, despite the Murdochs’ personal feelings towards Trump, their recent coverage of the ex-president suggests Fox News would rush to defend Trump when doing so provides an opportunity to cater to their pro-Trump viewers.
After Trump took to social media Monday night and confirmed the FBI raided his Palm Beach, Florida home, Fox News hosts rushed to the airwaves to slam the FBI and Dept. of Justice while portraying Trump as a “victim” of “deep state forces” trying to “damage” the ex-president.
Such instances create a conundrum for the Murdochs and Fox News because, although they allegedly tear Trump apart behind closed doors, they cannot condemn Trump publicly without losing a large part of their core audience.
Instead, the Murdochs have no choice but to air supportive coverage of Trump – meaning that, should he run for president again in 2024, Fox News will likely support him again like the network did in 2020, even if Lachlan Murdoch believes “it would be bad for the country.”
