“The current American political debate is profound,whether about education or welfare or economic opportunity,” Mr Murdoch said. “It is crucial that conservatives play an active,forceful role in that debate,but that will not happen if President Trump stays focused on the past.”
News Corp owns a controlling stake in Australian pay TV platform Foxtel,as well as local newspapers such asThe Australian,Sydney’sDaily Telegraph,Melbourne’sHerald Sun,New York basedThe Wall Street Journal and London basedThe Times.
Mr Murdoch and Mr Trump have mingled in similar circles since the 1970s and both rose to prominence in the US through New York’s tabloid culture - Mr Murdoch as the owner ofThe New York Post,and Mr Trump as a subject of its articles. US media outlets have reported the pair became close after Mr Trump took the presidency and would frequently speak over the phone.
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The relationship soured as Mr Murdoch’s cable news network,Fox News (whose commentators had championed Mr Trump during his presidency) released polls in the leadup to the 2020 general election that showed Mr Biden was more popular. An article byVanity Fair in 2020 said Mr Trump had screamed at Mr Murdoch over alleged “unfair” coverage. Mr Trump’s frustration with the network grew when its election desk called Arizona for President Joe Biden during the week of the general election.
“The past is the past,and the country is now in a contest to define the future,” Mr Murdoch said.
The comments were made at the company’s shareholder meeting,where the 90-year-old also took aim at Facebook and Google over censorship and overcharging advertisers for their products.