Even Fox News and the Murdochs are turning on DeSantis after his rough campaign start
John Tully for The Washington Post via Getty Images
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign struggles appear to be creating some fallout.
- Multiple reports say the influential and powerful Murdochs are souring on DeSantis.
- The News Corp. empire has played a major role in the governor's national rise.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis can't catch a break.
The GOP presidential hopeful's own super PAC has been blunt about his campaign's struggles. Now, there's concern that he could lose friendly faces in conservative media that help power his incredible rise from a three-term congressman to once appearing within striking distance of the GOP presidential nomination.
According to reports in Rolling Stone and The New York Times, Rupert Murdoch and his influential News Corp empire are souring on the governor.
"They are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away," an unnamed Fox insider told Rolling Stone, referring to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, and top Fox News executives.
In an even more potentially troubling development, The Times reported that Rupert Murdoch is still privately hoping that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will enter the expansive GOP field. Youngkin has repeatedly said that his focus is on Virginia state elections this year, but some in the party have pushed him to reconsider amid DeSantis' struggles.
DeSantis has greatly benefited from Murdoch-owned media coverage in the past.
As a Florida congressman, he used frequent appearances on Fox News to boost his profile and convince Trump to endorse his first gubernatorial run. Fox, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal appeared to delight in covering DeSantis' fights with journalists and his barbs for Dr. Anthony Fauci, once the nation's top infectious disease doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I'm an idiot. I should be in Florida. You should be my governor," Fox News host Sean Hannity once beamed to DeSantis during the pandemic, The Times pointed out.
After disappointing midterms, The Post held up DeSantis as "DeFUTURE" as he romped to reelection. Now, it appears the Murdochs now longer want to go back to that future.
Recent comments by Fox News hosts and editorials in The Post and The Journal are seen as evidence of the family shifting away from DeSantis. Over the weekend, Fox News host Maria Bartiromo pressed DeSantis on what's gone wrong.
"What's going on with your campaign?" she asked as chyrons showing Trump's lead were featured below.
These subtle shifts, Rolling Stone reported, are no accident.
"Two sources familiar with the matter stress that this is 'not by accident' and 'not a coincidence,'" the publication wrote.
DeSantis' 2024 push appears to have already peaked, with his numbers and reputation crashing down to earth amid a delayed and glitchy presidential rollout. He's also taken positions that seem tailored-made for a very online conservative activist. Trump has also flexed an unrelenting hold on the GOP thus far. The Florida governor remains Trump's best-positioned foe. But with just over six months until the Iowa caucuses, he is running out of time to seize momentum in the race.
Trump has been no fan of Fox's coverage either. He has repeatedly argued that the Murdochs are in the tank for DeSantis. On Tuesday, he shared portions on Truth social of a Yahoo Finance report about a Wells Fargo analyst downgrading Fox Corporation stock.