The 2024 presidential campaign for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is hitting a bump in the road as one of his biggest supporters, the Murdochs, are reportedly losing confidence in his ability to win against former President Trump.
A Fox News insider told Rolling Stone Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch “are transactional and can smell a loser a mile away.”
Murdoch’s “understandable worry is that we may end up being stuck with Trump anyway,” a senior Fox source told the outlet. “And DeSantis is underperforming. Anybody can see that … [and the Murdochs], they’re seeing it, too.”
The sources — including two individuals who speak to the Murdochs, three within Fox, and three others briefed on the situation — pointed to Fox’s coverage and articles in other outlets owned by the Murdochs, including the New York Post, being more critical of DeSantis.
With DeSantis posting some of his lowest poll numbers since announcing his campaign, Murdoch is reportedly wondering if a “comeback” is even possible.
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Trump is trouncing DeSantis in his own state, posting a 20-point lead in a new Florida Atlantic University Mainstreet PolCom Lab poll among Republican voters.
DeSantis might be too conservative for the Murdochs as well.
“According to two of the sources, Murdoch has privately winced at DeSantis’ nonstop cultural-grievance strategy, arguing that it is being executed sloppily,” Rolling Stone reports.
The outlet reports the Murdochs don’t know who else to turn to if not DeSantis, so it might not be over for him just yet.