James Murdoch’s wife Kathryn has voiced her agreement that her family, which owns Fox News, must ‘put their country above their profits’ and disavow President Donald Trump‘s claims of widespread voter fraud.
Kathryn Murdoch, 47, expressed the sentiment in a tweet on Friday, saying she agreed with CNN host Jake Tapper, who had stated: ‘The Murdochs and the people at Fox have an obligation to put their country above their profits. It is very important that people make it very clear — that there is no credible evidence of widespread fraud.’
James stepped down from the board of Fox News parent News Corp in July, citing disagreements with the company’s editorial content, and his wife Kathryn has long quietly supported liberal causes such as climate change.
However, Kathryn’s public statement came as a surprise at a time when Fox News and other media outlets face divisive questions over how to cover the unfolding vote count and Trump’s explosive claim, without proof, that the election is being ‘stolen’ though rampant fraud.
James Murdoch’s wife Kathryn (with him above) has voiced her agreement that her family, which owns Fox News, must disavow Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud
On Friday, Democrat Joe Biden was on the brink of winning the White House after taking the lead in the potentially decisive state of Pennsylvania. But Trump showed no signs of being ready to concede and his campaign insisted the bitterly contested race is ‘not over.’
CNN reported that Fox News employees had been instructed to avoid calling Biden the ‘president elect’ on air even if the network projects Biden will win the presidency.
‘If you’re a Fox News report, and you’re going to abide by this crazy instruction, you might as well hand in your press credentials at the same time,’ commented CNN’s Tapper.
Fox News, along with CNN, was one of only two major news networks to carry Trump’s angry White House address in its entirety on Thursday evening, without cutting away.
In his 17-minute tirade Trump claimed he was the victim of ‘big media, big money and big tech’ coming together to commit ‘historic election interference’ to give Biden the presidency.
Fox News contributors Bill Bennett and Byron York said that just because Trump did not allege specific instances of irregularities doesn’t mean there haven’t been any. But the president and his lawyers need to present evidence, they said.
‘What we saw tonight is a president who believes that at the end of the day, when all the votes are counted, the election is not going to to go his way, so he’s trying to plan an alternate route to retain the White House,’ said Fox White House correspondent John Roberts.
Fox News, along with CNN, was one of only two major news networks to carry Trump’s angry White House address in its entirety on Thursday evening
Kathryn Murdoch, 47, expressed the sentiment in a tweet on Friday, saying she agreed with CNN host Jake Tapper (above)
Other members of the network’s news staff have also remained skeptical, demanding proof of Trump’s claims.
‘We haven’t seen that level of fraud. He’s saying it’s there, but we haven’t seen it,’ said Bret Baier, Fox News’ chief political correspondent, while pushing back on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in an interview on Friday.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, one of the network’s top opinion commentators, took a more sympathetic line, saying broadcasters are duty-bound to cover Trump’s accusations and not airbrush them from the election.
‘Our system works. It has worked before. If people air concerns, resolve the concerns,’ Carlson said in his monologue on Thursday night.
‘Don’t call them names, don’t sweep those concerns under the rug, don’t shut it down artificially with unelected news anchors.’
Earlier this year, Kathryn Murdoch spoke out about her ‘radical centrist’ politics in an interview with Politico’s Women Rule podcast.
James Murdoch, Kathryn, Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Deng leave Murdoch’s annual summer party at the Oxo Tower in London on June 17, 2009
News Corp Executive Chairman and Fox Corporation Co-Chairman Rupert Murdoch
‘This is the first time where I’ve really decided that I have a voice and I need to try to use it,’ said Kathryn, who has long quietly supported climate change causes after Al Gore convinced her the issue was urgent in a 2006 presentation.
‘The decisions we make in the next few years are going to have an impact on coming generations,’ Kathryn said. ‘I need to know that I’ve done everything that I can possibly do.’
The Murdoch family retains 39 percent of the voting power in News Corp, the parent company of Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.
Founder Rupert Murdoch, 89, remains executive chairman of News Corp, with his son Lachlan Murdoch as co-chairman.