Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty
As Florida Gov.Ron DeSantissees his poll numbers sag, the top brass at Fox News is allegedly worried that Republicans “may end up being stuck with Trump,” a network source tellsRolling Stonein a new report.
Fox founder and chairmanRupert Murdochhad reportedly favored DeSantis overDonald Trump, allegedly viewing the governor as a more electable, less controversial pick for the GOP nominee.
But according to various network sources who spoke toRolling Stone, Murdoch — whose family controls Fox News, theNew York Post,The Wall Street Journal,and other media properties — now feels “that DeSantis is underperforming.”
The network has had its own share of problems with Trump, however, particularly in the wake of the last presidential election, when the former president targeted Fox News for accurately calling the state of Arizona for now-PresidentJoe Biden.
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More recently, the former president has directed his ire at Fox for its coverage of DeSantis, who has been widely viewed as Trump’s toughest competitor in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Many Fox News analysts had predicted thatTrump’s lead over his Republican opponentsin the 2024 presidential race would tighten once Florida Gov. DeSantis announced his own candidacy.
But since DeSantisofficially announced his bidin May, his poll numbers have only gone up slightly.
And as one source alleged toRolling Stone, Fox executives — including the Murdochs — “are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away,”
According to the report, the network executives feel DeSantis is leaning in too heavily to his far-right culture wars, and alienating many voters as a result. In recent weeks, some Murdoch-owned properties have begun openly criticizing DeSantis for things like Florida’santi-immigration billand some of hisstatements on Trump’s Supreme Court picks.
source: people.com
