The powerful media empire of conservative billionaire Rupert Murdoch appeared to turn its back Thursday on Donald Trump, labeling the former US president a “loser” who shows “increasingly poor judgement” after the midterm elections.
Just days before he is expected to announce his 2024 White House candidacy, the Wall Street Journal, the flagship of Murdoch’s News Corp, declared in an editorial that “Trump Is the Republican Party’s Biggest Loser,” pointing to the party’s disappointing performance in Tuesday’s midterms.
Trump later Friday hit back at Murdoch, appearing to relish a scuffle, accusing News Corp media of falling in line to back a potential Republican rival of Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination, a choice he said News Corp would rue.
The cover of News Corp’s tabloid New York Post depicted Trump on a precarious wall as “Trumpty Dumpty” who “had a great fall” in the vote, blaming him for the failure of Republicans to sweep past Democratic rivals in the battle for control of Congress and governors’ mansions.
And at the hugely influential Fox News television network, praise was thick for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, seen as Trump’s top rival for the party’s 2024 nomination.
“The biggest winner of the midterm elections was without a doubt Governor Ron DeSantis, whose landslide victory in the state of Florida was breathtaking,” wrote Fox columnist Liz Peek.
“The biggest loser? Donald Trump,” she said.
