Within hours of Donald Trump's anticipated announcement of his potential candidacy for the 2024 elections, voices close to the GOP are positioning themselves against the former president's return to the Oval Office. The disastrous results of several candidates supported by the former president in the midterms, such as Kari Lake, have turned part of the Republican establishment against the idea of Trump's return. Rupert Murdoch agrees with this branch of the GOP.
The British newspaper The i reports the testimony of sources close to the Fox News president. One of them assured that "we have been clear with Donald, there have been conversations between them in which Rupert has made it clear to Donald that we cannot support another run for the White House." He further stated that Murdoch might endorse a Democrat in the event that the former president were the Republican challenger.
Facing a possible GOP primary, polls have Ron DeSantis favored over Donald Trump after his resounding victory in the midterm elections. This same source confirmed that both Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, CEO of Fox News' parent company, see the Florida governor as their candidate for the next presidential election:
Lachlan has been keen on Ron for some time. He’s viewed within the organization as a sanitized version of Donald.
The insider also said that Murdoch sees Donald Trump's political career coming to an end after several of the candidates supported by the former president lost in the midterm elections.
Murdoch's position in an election showdown between Trump and Biden.
It is unlikely that Murdoch would support Trump if Biden were to run again in 2024. However, this does not imply that he would endorse the current president's candidacy. The source explains that the Fox News president's position would be to "likely remain neutral" in this hypothetical situation.
Murdoch has been highly critical of Joe Biden and his administration, and it is highly unlikely that he would ever support the president. It could be possible, however, for him to endorse another Democratic candidate (excluding Kamala Harris) "for the sake of stability and a sensible White House." The source said:
If it turns out to be Donald versus Joe then it may be that we just cover the race without any leanings one way or the other. AA lot of things would have to fall into place for that to happen. Joe would not be running, and the Democrats would have to have a new strong candidate. And that is not Kamala. But I don’t believe the Democrats know who could replace Joe yet so he may well go for a second term, especially given his relative success in the midterms.
