Dem
51
GOP
49
For a while, Rupert Murdoch's media properties seemed to be moving toward Ron DeSantis as the country's savior, but now that Donald Trump has been indicted and DeSantis is dropping in the polls, Murdoch may be having some second thoughts. Here is the Fox website and the cover of the New York Post, both from yesterday:
As you can see, top story on the Fox site is the North Carolina state representative who switched parties. Admittedly, that is big news, but does it really overshadow Trump's indictment? Ah, but the next story is about Alvin Bragg—and how some New Yorkers don't like him. Indeed, they were able to interview a couple of the pro-Trump protesters in lower Manhattan and they don't like Bragg, But the anti-Trump protesters were far more numerous. That part is left out.
The New York Post, also owned by Murdoch, at least acknowledges that Trump was indicted, but says Bragg's case falls flat and suggests the charges are "trumped up." Some lawyers have concluded that Bragg's case is weak, but "trumped up"? No. There is absolutely no doubt that Trump committed multiple cases of misdemeanor falsification of business records. The weakness is whether they were a felony offense. Trumped up they are not.
So is Murdoch having second thoughts about Trump now and ending his little love affair with DeSantis? It is a bit early to tell, but he clearly wants a winner, and if DeSantis no longer looks like a winner, Murdoch will not be embarrassed to drop him like a hot potato.
Also noteworthy is that yesterday morning, Fox host Steve Doocy warned Trump about attacking Alvin Bragg's wife. Doocy said: "It is a very bad look to attack the family." Was he trying to help Trump avoid trouble? Did Murdoch put him up to this? We don't know. It's just curious. (V)