Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Donald Trump: Rupert Murdoch says Republican party ‘would be mad’ not to unify behind fellow billionaire

Can two billionaires unify the Republican party?

Justin Carissimo
New York
Thursday 03 March 2016 15:45 GMT
Comments
Rupert Murdoch has always denied having power over UK politicians, in particular the prime minister
Rupert Murdoch has always denied having power over UK politicians, in particular the prime minister (Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez/Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch has embraced fellow billionaire Donald Trump on Twitter, nearly a day before the former Republican nominee Mitt Romney planned to publicly denounce him.

Coming off his Super Tuesday wins in seven states, Trump is scheduled to appear on Fox News' Republican debate on Thursday night. Murdoch's backing could simply be viewed as an insurance policy to prevent Trump from refusing to attend the contest, as he's done before.

The event will be moderated by Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Back in January, Murdoch's network accused Trump of being afraid of the seasoned journalist.

“Sooner or later Donald Trump, even if he's president, is going to have to learn that he doesn't get to pick the journalists — we're very surprised he's willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly,” Fox News said in a statement.

Kelly told the Associated Press that she thinks Trump is "more focused on securing the nomination now and not one me, and that's how it should be."

Despite his clear differences with his party, Trump remains optimistic that he can make the group more inclusive.

“We are going to be a much finer party, we’re going to be a unified party, and we are going to be a much bigger party — our party is expanding,” Trump declared during a press conference on Tuesday night, according to CBS News.

“I think we’re going to be more inclusive, more unified, and I think we’re going to be a much bigger party in November.”

The Fox News Republican Debate will be held at 9pm to 11pm on Thursday.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in