Rupert Murdoch Reportedly Called Donald Trump To Tell Him He Lost The Election

As U.S. President Donald Trump lost his early lead to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch called the president to tell him he had lost the race, The i reported.

“Earlier this week Mr Murdoch spoke to Mr Trump and told him that he had lost, and that Mr Biden was going to emerge as the clear winner,” the publication wrote.

“Mr Trump did not accept that.”

The i also claimed that Murdoch spoke to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the phone and urged him to pressure senior Republicans to push back on Trump’s “conspiracy theories and baseless claims of fraud.” As noted by the publication, McConnell, on Thursday morning, appeared to break with the president and drew a line between claiming electoral victory and ensuring that all votes are counted.

Murdoch had allegedly privately told associates that he believed the commander in chief would lose in the months leading up to the election and adjusted Fox News’ coverage accordingly, The i reported.

“Murdoch believed that Trump’s time might be up, and while the channel would allow the likes of right-wing commentators Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity to let rip, he ordered more impartial coverage of the election in the news network’s general news programming.”

One example the publisher noted was the increase in Fox News’ live coverage of Biden’s coronavirus-safe campaign rallies to match their handling of Trump’s, which did not follow public health guidelines amid the pandemic.

Per The Inquisitr, Trump reportedly called Murdoch to scream at him for his network calling Arizona for his challenger. As of now, The Associated Press claims the Democrat holds 49.9 percent of votes compared to the U.S. leader’s 48.7, with 90 percent of the results reported.

Nevertheless, the clash between the pair doesn’t appear to have budged Murdoch. As noted on Twitter by journalist Ian Fraser, one of Murdoch’s other publications, The New York Post, appears to have taken to using a more negative lens to cover Trump in the election.

According to The Intercept, Trump’s faltering chances have caused a “struggle” in the Murdoch family. The publisher highlighted that one of Murdoch’s daughters-in-law publicly threw support behind Jake Tapper, who called on the family to put America above its own profits and push back on Trump’s accusations of voter fraud. With the head of state’s defeat appearing to be the most likely possibility, The Intercept claimed the family and its network are “at a crossroads” and under more “critical scrutiny” from Americans than they ever have been.