Rupert Murdoch – Deep Left Field

Disgraced former president Donald Trump had a social media meltdown Tuesday evening after a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., The New York Post, published an op-ed urging Republicans to finally cut Trump loose.

The editorial begins:

Attorney General Merrick Garland’s raid on Mar-a-Lago has ex-President Donald Trump back in the news. That’s a problem for Republicans, who need to move beyond him.

Noting that the 2022 midterm elections should have been a cakewalk for the GOP, the Post lamented:

But if the focus is on Trump instead, enraged Democrats will unite, pause their internecine warring while independents will abstain or vote against the GOP.

The only solution? For Trump to go away.

Those GOPers know Trump’s already an albatross: His “stolen election” derangement in late 2020 is why Dems control the Senate now, and his endorsements in this year’s primaries have helped saddle Republicans with enough weak Senate candidates this year that retaking the chamber seems increasingly out of reach. Plus, for all the tens of millions Trump has raised since leaving the White House, he hasn’t yet spent any of it even to help the candidates he’s endorsed.

On his pathetic Twitter imitation, Truth Social, the twice-impeached loser ex-president fumed, claiming the Post was “once my favorite newspaper” He also suggested the Post editorial was an attempt to defend Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who recently warned some of the GOP’s Senate candidates were so extreme they may be unelectable come November, telling the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce:

“I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.”

That comment enraged Trump, whose handpicked Senate nominees are all in danger of losing badly.

Here’s the failed former president’s Truth Social posts after the editorial ran:

Both of the American newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation — The Wall Street Journal and New York Post — made it very clear in scathing op-eds that failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump has completely lost the support of the conservative media mogul and that Murdoch is ready for the Donald to disappear from the political scene as a result of his actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021.

The Wall Street Journal used this headline for their editorial, “The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6,” writing:

“No matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering. The most horrifying to date came Thursday in a hearing on President Trump’s conduct as the riot raged and he sat watching TV, posting inflammatory tweets and refusing to send help.”

The Journal’s editorial board continued:

“The committee’s critics are right that it lacks political balance. Still, the brute facts remain: Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name. He refused. He didn’t call the military to send help. He didn’t call Mr. Pence to check on the safety of his loyal VP. Instead he fed the mob’s anger and let the riot play out.
“Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his.”

The Post was equally critical of Trump:

“There has been much debate over whether Trump’s rally speech on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted ‘incitement.’ That’s somewhat of a red herring. What matters more — and has become crystal clear in recent days — is that Trump didn’t lift a finger to stop the violence that followed. And he was the only person who could stop what was happening. He was the only one the crowd was listening to. It was incitement by silence.”

Post editors wrote Trump’s political obituary by concluding:

“There is no other explanation, just as there is no defense, for his refusal to stop the violence. It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime. But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”

The only reason Trump has any plans to run again is so he can forestall being prosecuted for his endless list of crimes. But it’s a long way to 2024, and we’ll know well before then whether or not he’s facing indictment and trial.

But for what it’s worth, Rupert Murdoch has clearly washed his hands of the Donald.