2 Murdoch Newspapers Go After Trump

Is Rupert Murdoch parting ways with Donald Trump? The conservative editorial pages of two of his US newspapers have published blistering editorials against the former president in the wake of the most recent Jan. 6 hearing, notes CNN.

• Wall Street Journal: In an editorial headlined, "The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6," the Journal declared that "no matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering." As the riot unfolded, Trump "sat watching TV, posting inflammatory tweets and refusing to send help," the editors write. "Character is revealed in a crisis, and (Vice President Mike) Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial," the piece concludes. "Mr. Trump utterly failed his."

• New York Post: The editorial at the Post is even more withering. “It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime,” the editors write. “But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”
• Now what? Trump has not yet publicly responded to the editorials, and he still has plenty of support among big-name anchors on Murdoch-owned Fox News. But a post at the liberal Daily Kos wonders, "If Trump has lost the New York Post, can Fox News be far behind?"
• Prediction: At the conservative Hot Air site, Allahpundit is skeptical these editorials were ordered by Murdoch. It's more likely the editorial boards exercised their own judgment to conclude the GOP is better off with a candidate like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. However, if "Trump vanquishes Ron DeSantis in the 2024 primary, which is more likely than not, both the Journal and the Post will decide that he has enough character to warrant supporting over his Democratic opponent."

(More Donald Trump stories.)