Fox News chief Rupert Murdoch’s top U.S. newspapers both urged the Republican Party to cut former President Donald Trump loose over the weekend, CNN reports.
The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post both published widely-shared editorials trashing Trump and urging that party to find a new leader ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The New York Post editorial board published an op-ed slamming Trump’s refusal to act on Jan. 6, accusing him of “incitement by silence.”
“His only focus was to find any means — damn the consequences — to block the peaceful transfer of power. There is no other explanation, just as there is no defense, for his refusal to stop the violence,” the editorial board wrote. “It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime. But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again.”
WSJ too:
The Journal’s editorial board also condemned Trump after the latest Jan. 6 committee hearing.
“No matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering. The most horrifying to date came Thursday in a hearing on President Trump’s conduct as the riot raged and he sat watching TV, posting inflammatory tweets and refusing to send help,” the board wrote.
“The brute facts remain: Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name,” the op-ed continued. “He refused. He didn’t call the military to send help. He didn’t call Mr. Pence to check on the safety of his loyal VP. Instead he fed the mob’s anger and let the riot play out. In the 18 months since, Mr. Trump has shown not an iota of regret… Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his.”
Called out on Fox News:
Jan. 6 Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney cited the op-eds on Murdoch’s Fox News channel on Sunday.
"It's not just me that's saying that Donald Trump is unfit for office. It's other entities owned by Rupert Murdoch," she told host Bret Baier.
"It's the New York Post in their editorial on Friday. It's The Wall Street Journal—said the same thing after our hearing on Thursday night," she added. "So I'm going to continue to be guided by making sure I do my duty and making sure the American people understand the truth."
