James Murdoch, the chief executive of 21st Century Fox and son of Rupert Murdoch, on Thursday sent an email to friends criticizing President Donald Trump’s failure to fully condemn white nationalists in the wake of the Charlottesville violence and pledging a $1 million donation to the Anti-Defamation League.
Murdoch wrote in the email first reported by the New York Times that while he rarely weighs in on public events, “what we watched this last week in Charlottesville and the reaction to it by the President of the United States concern all of us as Americans and free people.”
“These events remind us all why vigilance against hate and bigotry is an eternal obligation — a necessary discipline for the preservation of our way of life and our ideals,” Murdoch wrote. “The presence of hate in our society was appallingly laid bare as we watched swastikas brandished on the streets of Charlottesville and acts of brutal terrorism and violence perpetrated by a racist mob.”
“I can’t even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazis is essential; there are no good Nazis. Or Klansmen, or terrorists. Democrats, Republicans, and others must all agree on this, and it compromises nothing for them to do so,” he continued.
Murdoch’s condemnation carries weight given that his father, Rupert Murdoch is an ally and informal adviser to the President.
