Murdoch Personally Approved AZ Call For Biden That Enraged Trump, Michael Wolff Writes

on October 14, 2011 in San Francisco, California.
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch delivers a keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform on October 14, 2011 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Michael Wolff writes in his new book that Fox News owner and right-wing media tycoon Rupert Murdoch personally gave the green light to his network to call Arizona for then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, according to Insider.

In an excerpt of Wolff’s upcoming book obtained by the publication, Wolff claims that Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch’s son and Fox Corporation CEO, phoned his father on election night to ask if Trump-friendly Fox News could announce that Arizona had flipped blue based on the network’s election data. No other outlet had called the state at the time.

The media mogul gave a short but blistering response, Wolff reportedly writes.

“[Lachlan’s] father, with signature grunt, assented, adding, ‘F— him,'” the book says.

Wolff also claimed that Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer called Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller to give him a heads-up about the network’s decision.

A Fox News spokesperson denied Wolff’s story about Hemmer, telling TPM it was “completely untrue” and pointing to a video showing the anchor reacting to his network’s Arizona call with seeming surprise on air on election night.

A Fox News Media spokesperson said Wolff’s account of how the network made the Arizona call was “completely false.”

“Arnon Mishkin who leads the FOX News Decision Desk made the Arizona call on election night and FOX News Media President Jay Wallace was then called in the control room,” the spokesperson said. “Any other version of the story is wildly inaccurate.”

Fox News’ call that night was seen as a huge blow by the Trump campaign, and its advisers were reportedly furious with the network, which had been a reliable ally to the then-president. The New York Times also reported that Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, was in touch with Murdoch that night.

This story has been updated with a statement from Fox News Media.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Who gives a shit…It’s Fox and it’s not news

  2. I would have given anything to see FatAss’s face when he heard about this. Hope someone got it on video. And hope they share it with us all.

    Any bets on how long it takes before we hear some mad rant “from the desk” of the twice-impeached Floridian retiree?

  3. They still fired the analyst who made the call, I guess to make sure everyone understands they are still major league assholes.

  4. It might have been a huge blow to Trump’s ego but I don’t see how the call was a huge blow to the campaign.

  5. Ha! Because of course, he could never act surprised.

    A Fox News spokesperson denied Wolff’s story about Hemmer, pointing TPM to a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YTt3qQfEk8) showing the anchor reacting to his network’s Arizona call with seeming surprise on air on election night.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

111 more replies

Participants

Avatar for playitagainrowlf Avatar for zandru Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for eldonlazar Avatar for Lacuna-Synecdoche Avatar for callmeeric Avatar for tacoma Avatar for lastroth Avatar for gr Avatar for left_in_washington_state Avatar for darrtown Avatar for tena Avatar for rickjones Avatar for lizzymom Avatar for birdford Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for kelaine Avatar for seamus42 Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for heartflow Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for old_guru Avatar for geographyjones Avatar for Musgrove11

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: