Rupert Murdoch played direct role in calling 2020 election Biden win

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
1 Apr 2023 21:44

Murdoch calls out the New York mayor who became Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, in his emails who also fed into the claims of voter fraud.

Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump embracing at the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 4, 2017, in New York (AFP)

Newly released and unredacted messages in the Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation case on Friday reveal that billionaire and media mogul Rupert Murdoch had a finger in how Fox News called the win of the 2020 election for Joe Biden and a loss for Donald Trump.

Murdoch wrote to the network’s chief executive, Suzanne Scott, three days after election day on November 6, 2020, but just one day before the Pennsylvania results. “It would be great if we call it for Biden as soon as he gets over, say, 35,000 ahead in Pennsylvania,” adding, “Whenever we do it, it will all be over. Regardless of Arizona.”

Author Michael Wolff reported that when Murdoch was notified of Trump's fury over the Arizona results, the media mogul gave a “signature grunt” and said, “F*** him.” Although Fox News denies this claim, Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, claims in his memoir that Murdoch called the result numbers "ironclad – it’s not even close."

Fox News reported Pennsylvania Biden's win only ten minutes after other media channels.

The emails show Murdoch saying that "Rudy is advising really bad!", referring to the former New York mayor who became Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who also fed into the claims of voter fraud in the Dominion case whereby Dominion must prove to the court that Fox News broadcast the claims while aware they were untrue.

Hosts such as Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham criticized Trump’s lie while Fox News continued to spread it.

The Dominion case is the most recent illustration of how people who disseminated misleading information regarding the 2020 election were aware that there was no supporting documentation. Many of Trump's senior aides cautioned him repeatedly that the accusations he was making about fraud were bogus; yet, Trump did not stop. He kept repeating them, according to the now-disbanded House committee looking into the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Fox's fear of losing its audience

A top producer for Jeanine Pirro’s show communicated with a senior executive on November 21, 2020, that "she is refusing to drastically change the opening despite the fact-check" to which the executive replied, “Understood".

Pirro called out the Democrats’ handling of the alleged Russian election interference investigation in 2016 and said, “Never, ever, not once did we see a scintilla of evidence."

According to Pirro, Giuliani “made clear that Democrat cities were targeted by crooked Democrats who stole votes."

More evidence from Friday's emails show that Fox executives are worried that they would lose their main audience who refuse to believe Trump lost.

Scott emailed producers on November 11 there was “intense anger over our AZ [Arizona] call”, adding: “A trust has been broken... and it’s our jobs to help them through this to the other side with strong reporting, investigative pieces and certainly speaking to the audience with respect is critical.”

Two days later, Fox Corp senior vice-president Raj Shah wrote to Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch’s son, “Fox News is facing a brand crisis, with viewers upset and online activists in open revolt of Fox’s handling of election night coverage last week and certain programming decisions since" as he warned that it won't "simply fade" alone and "poses lasting damage to the Fox News brand unless effectively addressed soon.”

Fox News claims that Dominion used "cherrypicked quotes without context" to create headlines, as the news network warns that "the foundational right to a free press is at stake" and "will continue to fiercely advocate for the first amendment in protecting the role of news organizations to cover the news."