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Fox News and the New York Post, two of the main conservative outlets controlled by tycoon Rupert Murdoch, have distanced themselves from Donald Trump in recent hours, for the first time since 2016.
“Fox News is miserable”: For the first time on Thursday night in Phoenix, Arizona, supporters of the US president attacked the television network, which is considered an undisputed ally of Trump for five years.
The reason: Fox News’ announcement Tuesday night of Joe Biden’s win in Arizona. Trump’s team asked the television network to withdraw it, but to no avail, at a time when other outlets avoided declaring the winner in this ambiguous state, waiting for the vote count to be completed.
Since then, Fox News has been wary of allegations by the Republican president’s team and himself about massive voter fraud.
“We have not seen any evidence of fraud,” said Brett Bayer, a political journalist for Fox News. “They haven’t shown us anything.” Is Fox News “abandoning” Trump after contributing to his victory in 2016?
The communication professor at DePauw University, Jeffrey McCall, recalls that the television network has always had two faces: on the one hand, some ultra-conservative and recognized presenters and on the other, a more measured pension.
Many Fox reporters, such as Chris Wallace, the coordinator of the first televised battle between Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, are known for their professionalism.
Sean Hannidi, the television host known for his support of the Republican president, said Thursday night that “Americans have reason to suspect (πιστεύ), not to believe in the legitimacy of these results.”
For McCall, Fox News’ treatment of Trump in recent days, as well as the announcement of Biden’s imminent victory in Arizona, testify to “his efforts to operate as independently as possible from the presenters.”
But Rick Peck, author of “Fox Populism,” says the distances the television network takes can alienate some viewers and motivate them to go elsewhere, such as OAN, the little one, a new television network that fully supports Donald Trump.
Behind Fox News, which reached a record high for the cable network (14.1 million viewers on election night) is tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
Known for his conservative views, he has been embracing the idea of a Biden victory for months, according to the Daily Beast.
But “I don’t think the Murdoch family will call the boarding house to explain to Brett Bayer how to cover one story or another,” McCall said.
“The political wind is felt”
The New York Post, which is also owned by Murdoch, “may reflect his views more accurately,” Reese Peck said.
According to him, the mogul “exercises much more control” at the Post than at Fox News.
Since the vote count is delayed, delaying the announcement of the winner of the US presidential election, the New York Post has not adopted any of the views of Trump’s campaign team on the alleged fraud.
On Friday, two opinion articles published in the newspaper acknowledged that Trump is likely to lose the election, a scenario that the outgoing Republican president rejects.
“Right now, Murdoch is feeling the political wind,” said Peck, a professor at the City University of New York. And Joe Biden, a moderate Democrat, is someone who can be tolerated. “Biden doesn’t scare American business circles very much,” he explains.
Source: AFP, ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
