who the New York Post opens can expect to find little or nothing positive about the US Democrats. The paper is part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, you could also call it the printed Fox News. In his election campaigns and during his presidency, Donald Trump has always been able to count on the support of the New York Post counting. This has changed now.
When Trump announced his re-election for President of the United States on Wednesday, the newspaper only reported the event with a small and sarcasm-laden story. A banner titled “Florida Man Makes Announcement” directed readers to a short text with no pictures on page 26.
“A retiree from Florida,” it said ironically, “surprisingly announced his candidacy for the presidency.” Even the headline “Been there, Don that” suggested that the candidacy was well known and boring, “Don” Trump was nothing more than a mistake from the past. the post writes about the ex-president as if he were a person almost unknown to the general public. “Avid golfer Donald J. Trump,” according to the article, became known for “gold-plated lobbies and firing employees on reality TV.”
Because the FBI is investigating Trump after he is said to have kept files classified as state secrets in the basement of his Mar-a-Lago resort after his election defeat, the taunts New York Post his villa as a personal “library for documents classified as classified”. The conservative newspaper also refers to Trump’s age and state of health: The ex-president would draw level with Joe Biden as the oldest president when he took office. “His cholesterol level is unknown, but charred steak and ketchup is his favorite dish.” So uses the New York Post common criticisms that prominent Republicans like to throw at Joe Biden as arguments against their former protégé.
Already after the midterm elections New York Post laughed at the reader’s favorite from the past as a failed joke figure. In addition to a modified English nursery rhyme, Trump was denigrated with an oversized monotonous head as the good-for-nothing Humpty Dumpty from “Alice in Wonderland”. The savior became a president “who couldn’t manage to build a wall”.
The newspaper isn’t the only Murdoch-owned News Corporation outlet Trump dropped after the midterms. Voices critical of Trump are also increasing on the ultra-conservative Fox News television channel. Speaking on Fox breakfast television, former Vice President Mike Pence said the country craves civilized and respectful political leadership and predicted that “America will have a better choice in 2024” than Donald Trump. That Wall Street Journal, also part of Murdoch’s empire, seems to have left the Trump era behind as well. Above a guest post by Bush-era Republican Senior Advisor Karl Rove is the headline “Oh, Trump Believes in Yesterday.” The ex-president promises more of the same, “but voters want something new,” says Rove.
In the eyes of many conservative commentators, the new election could be Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. The 44-year-old won a large majority in the elections.
Trumpists have their own media cosmos
The fact that it could still be too early to write Donald Trump off is also due to the fact that the Trumpists have created their own media cosmos. Strong right-wing nationalist publications like the Epoch Times or the television networks Newsmax and One America News Network were deliberately promoted by Donald Trump during his presidency. Now they remain loyal to him and continue to fuel the conspiracy beliefs of his followers. Many supporters of the MAGA movement have also turned away from the right-wing conservative mainstream media and get their information almost exclusively from conspiracy narrators like Alex Jones or Steve Bannon.
Nor is it the first time that support for Trump has come from Fox News, New York Post and Wall Street Journal fades. Shortly after the lost presidential election in 2020 and after the storming of the Capitol, it looked as if the Murdoch media would drop their range guarantee. But the criticism died down again and the MAGA Republicans remained the minions of Fox and Co. It is still too early to say for sure whether the criticism of Trump will continue, or whether the ex-president will manage to to win over the right-wing conservative opinion columns.
Nevertheless: Rupert Murdoch’s media brands achieve a high reach right into the middle of American society. Without this audience, a Republican can hardly win the election. And the fact that Murdoch’s editorial staff now seems to be turning against Trump’s candidacy shows that his media power in the conservative mainstream is crumbling.