Donald Trump's insistence on repeating his debunked claims of election fraud has harmed his relationship with the Murdoch family, according to a new deep-dive published by The New York Times.
"The network, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch and boosted Mr. Trump's ascension from real estate developer and reality television star to the White House, is now often bypassing him in favor of showcasing other Republicans," Jeremy Peters reported. "In the former president's view, according to two people who have spoken to him recently, Fox's ignoring him is an affront far worse than running stories and commentary that he has complained are 'too negative.' The network is effectively displacing him from his favorite spot: the center of the news cycle."
Trump is reportedly angry with Sean Hannity in particular.
"Mr. Trump has complained recently to aides that even Sean Hannity, his friend of 20 years, doesn't seem to be paying him much attention anymore, one person who spoke to him recalled," The Times reported. "The snubs are not coincidental, according to several people close to Mr. Murdoch's Fox Corporation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the company's operations."
On Thursday, Tara Palmeri reported, "my sources say that Trump has started to complain about how [Dr. Mehmet Oz] is running his campaign to the man who pushed the endorsement, Sean Hannity."
Last Friday, Murdoch's Wall Street Journal and NY Post editorialized against Trump.
On Monday, Trump lashed out at "Fox and Friends" in a Truth Social post.
Trump complained the show "just really botched my poll numbers, no doubt on purpose. That show has been terrible - gone to the 'dark side.'"
"RINO Paul Ryan, one of the weakest and worst Speakers EVER, must be running the place," Trump said, referring to the former Speaker of the House of Representatives who sits on the News Corporation's board of directors.
"The skepticism toward the former president extends to the highest levels of the company, according to two people with knowledge of the thinking of Mr. Murdoch, the chairman, and his son Lachlan, the chief executive. It also reflects concerns that Republicans in Washington, like Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, have expressed to the Murdochs about the potential harm Mr. Trump could cause to the party's chances in upcoming elections, especially its odds of taking control of the Senate," The Times supported. "The Murdochs' discomfort with Mr. Trump stems from his refusal to accept his election loss, according to two people familiar with those conversations, and is generally in sync with the views of Republicans, like Mr. McConnell, who mostly supported the former president but long ago said the election was settled and condemned his efforts to overturn it."
It has been 113 days since Trump has appeared on Fox News.
"On April 13, Mr. Trump called into Mr. Hannity's show and ran through a list of crises he claimed would not be happening 'had we won this election, which we did.' He hasn't been interviewed on the network since," the newspaper reported.
