Murdoch: I wish Trump was dead
RUPERT Murdoch has said he now wishes his former friend Donald Trump was dead, a biography about the media tycoon claims.
Murdoch’s US empire – Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post – backed billionaire Trump, 77, when he won the White House in 2016.
But, in “frothing-at-the-mouth” rants, Murdoch, 92, has declared he is vehemently opposed to a possible second Trump presidency, according to author Michael Wolff.
Mr Wolff says the Australian tycoon was particularly stung by the £636million payout he was forced to make after his TV news channel was sued by Dominion Voting Systems over Fox News’s broadcast of Trump’s election fraud lies.
Mr Wolff’s book, The Fall: The End of Fox News And The Murdoch Dynasty, claims Murdoch thought it would cost him just £40million.
The author claims Trump’s death has become a frequent subject in Murdoch’s outbursts.
His book, published in the US next Tuesday, says: “Of all Trump’s implacable enemies, Murdoch had become a frothing-at-themouth one. relatively calm demeanour from the early Trump presidency, where, with a sigh, he could dismiss him merely as a ‘f ****** idiot’ had now become a churning stew of rage and recrimination.
“Trump’s death became a Murdoch theme. ‘We would all be better off...’. ‘This would all be solved if...’. ‘How could he still be alive, how could he?’. ‘Have you seen him? Have you seen what he looks like? What he eats?’.” Trump remains the favourite to face Democrat Joe Biden, 80, in next year’s presidential election. Mr Wolff has written three books about Trump, including Fire And Fury, and one previous title about Murdoch, who he claims personally endorsed the decision by Fox News to call the state of Arizona for Biden in 2020.
Trump had falsely claimed there was voter fraud in 2020 and that the presidential election was stolen. It culminated in the deadly riot on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
News of Murdoch’s eruptions came as the social media accounts of Trump’s son, Don Trump Jr, were hijacked by hackers who claimed his father was dead.
A false tweet from Trump Jr’s official X account said: “I’m sad to announce my father, Donald Trump, has passed away.
“I will be running for president in 2024.”