Murdoch paper 'desperately' gropes for a Trump replacement after DeSantis face-plants: report

With the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal already loudly and repeatedly claiming Donald Trump can't win again in 2024, the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper is "desperately" searching for a Republican candidate it can get behind as the election -- and crucial GOP primaries -- fast approach.

According to the New Republic's Walter Shapiro, the editorial board under editor Paul Gigot has found itself in a dilemma after turning on the ex-president and watching the campaign of its favorite challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, collapse in record time.

"Always uncomfortable with Donald Trump’s America First populism and bombast, the Journal’s three-page print editorial section turned on the defrocked president with a fury the day after the 2022 midterm elections," Shapiro wrote.

"Not only did the Journal headline its lead editorial 'TRUMP IS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY’S BIGGEST LOSER,' but it also ran threeotherop-eds belittling the sneering face of the GOP."

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Having painted themselves into a corner, and with Trump running away in the polls, the editors are now in dire straits with no Republican in view that they can get behind showing a pulse.

After writing, "Even though the Journal does not formally endorse candidates, the editorial page is adept at putting a thumb on the scale," Shapiro added, "The problem for Gigot and company is that they want to be part of the GOP nomination conversation rather than quixotic crusaders.

"As the most prominent print voice of Reagan-era conservatism, the Journal is not about to lavish column inches on no-hope candidates like Asa Hutchinson. In DeSantis, the editorialists thought they had found their man: someone who would sucker the Trump enthusiasts, but who, deep down, was really just like them. But so far DeSantis has bamboozled no one."

As the New Republic writer put it, based on the choices beyond Trump not checking the boxes they require, the editorial board may just throw in the towel and blame the Republican Party for failing to come through.

"The real joy in reading the Journal editorial pages all through the 2024 campaign season will be to wait for the inevitable eureka moment. That will be when the edit staffers finally realize to their dismay that the Republican Party of their dreams — a party devoted to small government and tax-cutting rather than election-denying and an authoritarian cult of personality — no longer exists. I can’t wait for the angry Journal editorial entitled 'THE PARTY’S OVER,'" he predicted.

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