Donald Trump was right to be suspicious of Fox News.
The network is hostile to his reelection campaign.
And Fox News is about to recruit one Republican to challenge Trump in 2024.
The big money donors in the GOP establishment initially bet on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as their candidate to defeat Donald Trump.
$14 million of the $20 million DeSantis raised in his first quarter as a Presidential candidate came from donors contributing the legal maximum.
But as DeSantis’ poll numbers slumped, the money dried up and the donor class began hunting around for a new white knight to enter the GOP race at the last minute as a Trump alternative.
Several top GOP donors, panicked about their current choices, are holding back 2024 money with the long-shot dream of luring an alternative to former President Trump into the Presidential race at the last minute.
The two latest Republicans to catch the eye of the money class are Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.
Donors reportedly made their entreaties to both and they were open to the idea of mounting a last-minute challenge to Trump.
“Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp are getting secret overtures from establishment Republicans — and haven’t ruled out running,” Axios reports.
But Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch already picked his favorite.
Murdoch’s media empire – Fox News, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal – all turned into DeSantis promotional vehicles following the 2022 Midterms.
DeSantis’ floundering campaign has Murdoch looking elsewhere and it appears Murdoch settled on Youngkin as his new flavor of the month.
“Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has repeatedly encouraged Virginia Gov. GLENN YOUNGKIN (R) to run for president in 2024, according to two people familiar with entreaties made in at least two face-to-face meetings,” the Washington Post reported.
The coverage normally reserved for DeSantis in Murdoch-owned outlets now flows to Youngkin.
“The previously unreported meetings took place months ago, but Murdoch’s ask has taken on fresh relevance as Youngkin continues to lay the groundwork for a potential last-minute White House bid and as Murdoch outlets hyped his presidential prospects this month with a mix of sober Wall Street Journal analysis and buzzy Page Six blurbs,” the Post also reported.
The GOP establishment and donor class has sought an alternative to Trump for eight years.
But each time they prop someone up the GOP voters keep sending the message back that they want Donald Trump.
And it’s hard to see why Youngkin or Kemp would not meet a similar fate as Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Ron DeSantis.
