• Trump called for longtime associate Murdoch to get out of the news business
  • He defended opinion hosts Murdoch said aired false notion of stolen election
  • Deposition and emails reveal Murdoch calling Trump fraud claims ”bullshit’

Former President Donald Trump continued to rage at Rupert Murdoch Wednesday following the release of stunning internal messages in the Dominion lawsuit – saying the billionaire longtime newsman should get out of the business and defending prime-time hosts who aired election fraud conspiracies in their slots.

The fresh attack follows the release of an explosive deposition and internal Fox News emails from the Fox Corporation cochairman as part of the ongoing lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems, including one expressing Murdoch’s thoughts to a company exec on diminishing Trump after his supporters attacked the Capitol on January 6.

‘We want to make Trump a non person,’ Murdoch wrote. That came amid a series of messages released as part of court filings that show top Fox executives and on-air talent criticizing and even ridiculing some of the unsubstantiated theories of election fraud that were being put on air by Trump allies. In another email, Murdoch called Trump’s election fraud claims ‘bulls*** and damaging.’ He said in the deposition that on-air hosts endorsed ‘stolen election lies.’

Trump, who is now seeking to reclaim the White House, continues to stand by the claims, despite a series of courts ruling against election challenges by him and his allies.

‘If Rupert Murdoch honestly believes that the Presidential Election of 2020, despite MASSIVE amounts of proof to the contrary, was not Rigged & Stollen, then he & his group of MAGA Hating Globalist RINOS should get out of the News Business as soon as possible, because they are aiding & abetting the DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA with FAKE NEWS,’ Trump wrote. 

Then Trump came to the defense of unnamed ‘patriotic’ Fox hosts, who brought on guests including lawyer Sidney Powell to promote election conspiracies even while other prime time hosts said they thought she was crazy.

‘Certain BRAVE & PATRIOTIC FoxNews Hosts, who he scorns and ridicules, got it right. He got it wrong. THEY SHOULD BE ADMIRED & PRAISED, NOT REBUKED & FORSAKEN!!!’ Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.

In a new legal filing in Dominion Voting Systems $1.6 billion suit against Fox, Murdoch said some of his hosts aired the ‘false notion’ of a stolen election, but defended the company overall.

‘Not Fox, No. Not Fox. But maybe Lou Dobbs, maybe Maria [Bariromo], as commentators.’

Asked about host Jeanine Pirro, Murdoch responded: ‘I think so.’ 

Asked about Dobbs, he responded: ‘Oh, a lot.’ And he said Hannity did ‘a bit.’ 

Murdoch also said he ‘suggested or urged’ Dobbs be fired because he ‘was an extremist,‘ although internal emails reveal top executives were concerned about losing viewers amid Trump’s attacks and following its decision to call Arizona for Joe Biden – a move that infuriated Trump supporters.

‘I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight,’ Murdoch said of the fraud claims that the top-rated cable network aired repeatedly.

In another email, Murdoch told former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who serves on a Fox board of directors, that host Sean Hannity had ‘been privately disgusted by Trump for weeks, but was scared to lose viewers.’

Murdoch also would not say that host Tucker Carlson endorsed election fraud, though he said it was ‘wrong’ for Carlson to have My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell on January 26, 2021 to make false accusations against Dominion without pushing back on them.

Dominion is seeking damages in a defamation suit for claims about its voting machines that aired on the network.