AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
Billionaire media titan Rupert Murdoch arrived at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday following his unsuccessful bid to influence former President Donald Trump’s choice of vice presidential nominee.
In a decision that underscores the power realignment within the Republican Party, Murdoch failed in his push for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to become Trump’s running mate, with the former president instead siding with the preference of Donald Trump Jr. and conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH).
Murdoch’s attendance at the RNC also came a day after Trump Jr. trash-talked Murdoch-owned Fox News, accusing the network of sidelining him, despite recent appearances. A Fox News spokesperson countered, asserting Trump Jr. remains welcome on all their platforms, noting how he was interviewed on the convention floor by Aishah Hasnie on and had been booked for a Wednesday morning appearance on Fox & Friends.
For the 91-year-old, however, once a central figure in GOP dynamics, Trump Jr. made clear that it was his father who now reigns over the party.
“There was a time where if you wanted to survive in the Republican Party, you had to bend the knee to him or to others,” Trump Jr. remarked to Axios’ Mike Allen. “I don’t think that’s the case anymore.”
He added: “I just think conventional media, on both sides of the mainstream, I think they’ve done a lot of disservices to the people.”
New York Times writer Jim Rutenberg, who broke the news of Murdoch’s arrival at the convention, noted the change within the GOP: “And with that, he became one of the most prominent one-time Trump detractors to line up behind the former president and join a convention that has doubled as a resounding show of Republican unity.”
The convention, drawing 18.1 million viewers with Fox News leading the coverage, showcased a party rallying behind the former president.
