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Rupert Murdoch’s daughter-in-law urges Fox to ‘put country above profits’

Kathryn Murdoch weighs in on the row over Fox News’ coverage of the election, in true Succession style

Harriet Alexander
Saturday 07 November 2020 00:49 GMT
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CNN anchor urges Fox News to 'put party over country' and dispel fraud claims

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Rupert Murdoch’s daughter-in-law has urged Fox News to “put country above profits” and report truthfully that there has not been widespread electoral fraud.

Kathryn Murdoch. wife of James Murdoch, who resigned from the board of Fox News’ parent company News Corp in July, responded to remarks by CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Read more: Follow the 2020 US election results live

Jeremy Barr, the Washington Post’s media correspondent, tweeted: "CNN's Jake Tapper, who says he doesn't normally talk about competitors: "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.""

Ms Murdoch replied: “I agree with this,” in comments “liked” over 20,000 times.

Her comments came shortly after CNN reported that Fox News staff members were being told not to refer to Joe Biden, if he wins, as “president-elect”, in a bid to cast a shadow over the legitimacy of the election.

The Trump campaign is furious at Fox News for being the first outlet to call Arizona for Mr Biden on Tuesday night at 10.30pm - a decision swiftly followed by the AP, but not yet made by CNN, the New York Times and NBC.

Mr Trump, according to Vanity Fair, picked up the phone to Mr Murdoch on Tuesday night to “scream” at him about the decision and demand that Mr Murdoch tell his team to retract the Arizona call - something the media mogul refused to do.

Both Ms Murdoch and her husband are generous Democrat donors, and each contributed $615,000 to Joe Biden’s campaign.

Mr Murdoch, 47, said in his resignation letter to the News Corp board this summer that he was leaving the company owing to "disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions.”

His brother Lachlan, 49, is co-chairman of News Corp and in charge of Fox Corporation.

Their 89-year-old father is the chairman and CEO of News Corp.

Ms Murdoch and her husband have long been at odds with the rest of the conservative-leaning family.

Ms Murdoch, who married into the family in 2000, worked with the Clinton Climate Initiative and is currently president of Quadrivium, which she co-founded with her husband to “support practical, evidence-based solutions for critical societal problems.”

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