Rupert Murdoch is sticking with Donald Trump.
Despite his well-known disdain for the disgraced former president and reports that he would like to push the GOP in a fresh direction, Murdoch's new Fox News prime time lineup suggests the right-wing media mogul has decided against aggressively taking on the de-facto leader of the Republican Party.
The influential Fox News lineup, which debuts Monday night, is made up of Trump mouthpieces — personalities who have willfully spread propaganda and misinformation on behalf of Trump during his years in the White House. That is no accident.
With the surprise firing of Tucker Carlson from the 8pm perch this spring, Murdoch had the opportunity to reshape Fox News prime time. He could have promoted conservative personalities who have shown some skepticism toward Trump to key time slots. But Murdoch chose not to. He didn't even elevate a single such voice.
Instead, the aging patriarch decided to stick with a slate of familiar MAGA-boosting hosts in the lead up to the 2024 presidential campaign season, assembling an evening line up consisting of Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Jesse Watters, and Greg Gutfeld. All four have, for years, been firmly in the Trump camp and provided a safe space for Fox's audience seeking daily reassurance of their beliefs. A MAGA Matrix, if you will. Don't expect any of the hosts to push back against Trump in a serious way.
Perhaps the MAGA line up suggests that Murdoch has read the writing on the wall. While he would like to see the GOP move past Trump, the masses that actually make up the party remain firmly in his camp. With the help of Murdoch's own media machine, Trump reshaped the party in his image. Winding back the Republican Party to a previous era may be impossible, even for Murdoch.
Murdoch's best efforts to prop up a Trump-like alternative has even proven unsuccessful. Despite the Republican kingmaker's promotion of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the last few years, the not-so-subtle nudging of the voter base has not worked. A steady drumbeat of polls has continued to show Trump dominating the 2024 Republican field, while DeSantis' campaign has all but stalled.
Murdoch is not blind to this. Recent reporting from The NYT has indicated that he may be souring on DeSantis and hopeful another candidate, such as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, might hop in the race. Even if Youngkin did enter the race, Murdoch surely knows that his odds of dethroning Trump would be slim. Which may explain his decision to go with a prime time lineup that has reliably championed Trump.
Murdoch may dislike what the forecast says. He may believe the coming election, in which a twice-indicted and impeached former president fighting for his own survival, will damage the country. But he seems to also believe that the best way to position his media empire for survival is not through resistance, but adapting to the grim reality.