‘Can smell a loser’: Report says the Murdochs are souring on DeSantis

Looking to move on from Donald Trump while still advancing much of the former president’s policy agenda, the Murdoch family turned to Ron DeSantis as its preferred potential 2024 presidential candidate almost immediately after Joe Biden took office.

But the influential family behind Fox News has in recent weeks soured on the Florida governor, Rolling Stone reports.

Rupert Murdoch, the family figurehead and billionaire mogul behind a sprawling media empire, has been the most vocal in his skepticism over whether a DeSantis “comeback” remains a possibility as the Florida governor continues to flounder and Trump’s poll numbers continue to soar.

Diana Falzone writes for Rolling Stone that the Murdoch family sees DeSantis’ struggles, and that it’s not a good look, noting that at least one family member has suggested they should return to supporting Trump.

“[Rupert’s] understandable worry is that we may end up being stuck with Trump anyway,” a senior Fox source told Rolling Stone.

“And DeSantis is underperforming. Anybody can see that…[and the Murdochs], they’re seeing it, too.”

Another Fox insider used the “loser” tag in assessing how Rupert and his son Lachlan Murdoch, Fox News’ top executives, view DeSantis.

“They are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away,” the source told Rolling Stone.

Falzone writes that the Murdoch family’s disenchantment with DeSantis has surfaced in recent weeks in what she described as “a marked shift for the Murdoch clan” that’s spilled into coverage of the Florida governor in several Murdoch-owned news outlets.

The report notes that News Corp’s editorial pages, traditionally friendly territory for DeSantis, have turned on him, noting that, “The New York Post editorial board, which once hailed DeSantis as the candidate who ‘gives America the chance to move on from its punch-drunk stupor,’ has begun to look askance at DeSantis.”

“Until recently, Fox News had been extremely friendly and safe territory for the Florida governor with softball questions about his culture-war crusades and other matters,” Falzone writes.

“Since 2021, the network has been vital in building DeSantis’ national name-ID among conservatives, heralding him as a fast-rising political star and touting him as the future of the Trumpified right.”

Read the full article here.