Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, whose empire includes Fox News among other prominent news organizations, has reportedly been recruiting Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) to run for president.
The Washington Post reported Friday that a pair of people familiar with the situation said that on two in-person occasions, Murdoch prodded Youngkin to launch a bid for the White House. Another source said the most recent meeting was in the spring, while the other came at an earlier time. Notably, on July 12, the New York Times noted that Murdoch had privately spoken about his hope for a Youngkin bid.
Rupert Murdoch at the Herman Kahn Award Gala on October 30, 2019, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Rolling Stone reported a day earlier, on July 11, that Murdoch, head of News Corp and Fox Corporation, started losing confidence in Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who began falling off in the polls dramatically after consistently landing in second place behind former President Donald Trump for months.
An anonymous source from Fox News told Rolling Stone at the time that Murdoch and his son Lachlan, executive chairman of Fox Corporation, “are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away.” His outlets, which include the New York Post, had dealt heavily in DeSantis news prior to his decline, but as the Times pointed out, coverage became more critical as his fall lingered.
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a fundraising event on August 6, 2023, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Interestingly, Youngkin dismissed the possibility of running for president in May, stating he was “spending time representing Virginia this year,” when asked by Street Editor-at-Large Gerard Baker of the News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal. But after other media outlets picked up the report, Baker wrote a follow-up op-ed clarifying that Youngkin had not come to a clear decision about a presidential run.
What is more, Youngkin is laying the groundwork for a campaign, per the Washington Post:
As he focuses on the Virginia elections, Youngkin continues to prepare for a potential White House run. The governor courted billionaire Republican megadonors early this month in the Hamptons at the home of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. He is due in Atlanta on Saturday to serve as the closing speaker at a conference that Republican commentator Erick Erickson has organized to showcase several declared Republican presidential candidates.
However, his team maintains that he is focused on upcoming local elections in Virginia.
On May 18, Youngkin released a nationally themed ad focused on “the future of America,” further adding to speculation of a potential run:
It’s time to usher in a new era of American values. It’s our turn to choose life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. pic.twitter.com/IH8enVaL5B
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) May 18, 2023
“This was a video highlighting his remarks at the Reagan Library last week, where the Governor spoke about how Virginia was one of the bright lights of our nation’s future,” senior Youngkin adviser David Rexrod told NBC News at the time, despite the word Virginia not being mentioned in the 59-second video.
As for Murdoch’s interest in Youngkin over the clear-cut GOP frontrunner, Trump, sources told the Post he had apprehensions following the costly $787 million settlement between his company and Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion accused “the news outlet of harming its reputation by airing former President Donald Trump and his attorneys’ claims that Dominion’s voting machines were used to rig the 2020 election,” as Breitbart News noted.
However, the Post states, “Murdoch is ultimately a pragmatist and the people familiar with the Youngkin discussions said Murdoch could once again throw his support behind Trump.”
