Rupert Murdoch pushes new Hail Mary plan to break GOP's 'unhealthy' relationship with Trump: report

Following up on a report from Rolling Stone about Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch souring on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' presidential prospects, the New York Times is reporting that Murdoch is pushing for another Republican governor to enter the race.

According to the Times' sources, Murdoch "has privately told people that he would still like to see Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia enter the race" despite the fact that such late entries do not have a history of success.

And despite the fact that Trump is currently dominating polls of Republican primary voters, the Times' sources say Murdoch believes Trump "is unhealthy for the Republican Party."

Even though Murdoch and his media empire were staunch supporters of Trump during his presidency, they have since soured on the former president after he lost the House of Representatives in 2018, lost the presidency in 2020, and cost Republicans control of the Senate in both 2020 and 2022.

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Trump also faces a slew of legal problems, including a civil lawsuit over allegedly fraudulent business practices from New York Attorney General Letitia James; criminal charges related to his hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels; criminal charges into his retention of top-secret documents at Mar-a-Lago; and two different investigations into his efforts to illegally remain in power after losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.

Trump was also recently found liable for sexually abusing and defaming journalist E. Jean Carroll.