After winning re-election by 19 points, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis became a hero to media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
The governor was nicknamed as “DeFUTURE” in the New York Post‘s cover story the day after the election. As recently as May, former President Donald Trump was slamming the NY Post for running a “puff piece” on the governor and for “desperately pushing DeSanctimonious.”
Now, as a presidential candidate, DeSantis is struggling to gain ground… and the governor has been facing criticism from both Murdoch-owned publications and from the Murdoch family itself.
Some insiders at the Murdoch-owned outlets — like Fox News, the NY Post, and the Wall Street Journal — spoke to Rolling Stone Tuesday about owner Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan.
“[Rupert’s] understandable worry is that we may end up being stuck with Trump anyway,” a senior employee at Fox News reportedly told the music magazine. “And DeSantis is underperforming. Anybody can see that … [and the Murdochs], they’re seeing it, too.”
Other sources reportedly added that the elder Murdoch finds DeSantis too awkward for nationwide voters.
“They are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away,” another Fox News insider said, referring to both Rupert and Lachlan.
Even before the Rolling Stone story, liberal observers had noticed changes at Fox News.
On Sunday, DeSantis spoke to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo… and he fielded some pointed questions about his low polling.
Bartiromo asked, “You’ve done a good job at pushing against Woke. We know that, but I’m wondering what’s going on with your campaign. There was a lot of optimism about you running for president earlier in the year.”
On another occasion, DeSantis spoke to Fox News host Will Cain, and he dealt with a similar issue.
Cain told the governor, “We’ve met and I liked you a lot, but there are those that say there’s something about you that’s not connecting, for whatever reason, not connecting with the voter.”
After the interview, The New York Times ran a piece called, “DeSantis Confronts a Murdoch Empire No Longer Quite So Supportive.”
DeSantis has brushed off the critiques from Murdoch-owned outlets. He said on Sunday Morning Futures, “These are narratives. The media does not want me to be the nominee.
Is Rupert Murdoch pushing for someone else? Reportedly, he’d like to vote for Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va.
“Mr. Murdoch has privately told people that he would still like to see Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia enter the race, according to a person with knowledge of the remarks,” the New York Times reported.
Bartiromo: I’m wondering what’s going on with your campaign… What happened?
DeSantis: These are narratives. The media does not want me to be the nominee. pic.twitter.com/stX7j5ns0t
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 9, 2023
Wow Fox News (the DeSantis News Network) might be turning on desantis!
Will Cain asked Rod why he isn’t connecting well with the voters. Rod avoids the questions & then brings up the amount of money he raised from globalist donors.
He also sounded like he wanted to cry. Rod… pic.twitter.com/wx92YYWION
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) July 7, 2023