Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has repeatedly encouraged Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) to run for president, according to two people familiar with entreaties made in at least two face-to-face meetings.
The previously unreported meetings took place months ago, but Murdoch’s ask has taken on fresh relevance as Youngkin has continued to lay the groundwork for a last-minute White House bid and as Murdoch outlets hyped his presidential prospects this month with a mix of sober Wall Street Journal analysis and buzzy Page Six blurbs.
The New York Times reported in July — in a story on how Fox’s coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis turned tougher as his presidential campaign began struggling — that Murdoch had privately told people that he would like Youngkin to enter the race.
It was not known until now that the New York billionaire, whose family owns a controlling stake in both News Corp. and Fox Corp., had personally encouraged Youngkin to jump in — although the Virginia governor is thought to be waiting for whether his party prevails in the state’s November elections before making a decision on whether to run.
The two men have spoken on at least two occasions in person about a possible Youngkin run, according to two people familiar with the long-running discussion between them. The more recent of the two discussions was in the spring and the timing of the first was unclear, according to a third person familiar with their interactions, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
A Fox spokesman said Murdoch was not available for an interview. Dave Rexrode, chairman of Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC, did not respond to questions about Murdoch but said the recent flurry of attention from his media empire stems from Youngkin’s success in Virginia.
“Virginia’s getting attention because parents still matter and Governor Youngkin’s commonsense conservative leadership is working,” Rexrode said in a written statement to The Washington Post. “There’s more to do, so the Governor’s not taking his eye off Virginia; these races are too important.”
Alliance between Murdoch family and Donald Trump is changing
Murdoch has long felt that former president Donald Trump’s seeming obsession with the results of the 2020 election will only serve to drag the Republican Party down in a general election. He is also keenly aware of the damage that Trump’s message about the election cost his own company, which was forced to pay more than three quarters of a billion dollars to Dominion Voting Systems in a settlement in a defamation action earlier this year.
One of the people familiar with the Murdoch-Youngkin conversations cautioned that Murdoch has previously urged others to get into the ring with Trump, as he did with former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg during the 2016 Republican primary.
“Not everyone listens to Rupert, and Rupert’s instincts aren’t always perfect,” this person said. “But he has always believed that some competition is better than none at all, and he would like to see some debate about the issues in the primary.”
Murdoch’s support could be a great asset to any White House hopeful given his media empire’s reach with conservative audiences, but it is no golden ticket. In addition, Murdoch is ultimately a pragmatist and the people familiar with the Youngkin discussions said that Murdoch could once again throw his support behind Trump. But given Fox’s settlement with Dominion, the media mogul is more tentative than ever about the former president, these people said.
As Murdoch outlets turned on Trump — The New York Post famously covered his 2024 campaign kickoff under the headline, “Florida man makes announcement” — their conservative audience largely stuck with the former president. The praise and attention that Fox showered on DeSantis as he first emerged as Trump’s chief rival did not forestall the governor’s more recent fall in the polls.
Inside the simmering feud between Donald Trump and Fox News
A political newcomer and former Carlyle Group executive who plowed $20 million of his own money into his 2021 gubernatorial campaign, Youngkin vaulted from obscurity to lists of potential presidential contenders the moment he flipped seemingly blue Virginia red.
A recent Virginia Commonwealth University poll found Virginians favor Youngkin over President Biden for president in a hypothetical head-to-head contest (44 percent to 37 percent), but he barely registers in national GOP primary polls. Nevertheless, White House buzz has persisted.
Some political insiders see a path for Youngkin based on his ties to the donor class and a personal fortune that Forbes put at $470 million at the time of his election, appeal to evangelicals as someone who started a church in his basement, and ability to wage MAGA culture wars in the style of the friendly dad next door.
Yet Youngkin would face tremendous logistical hurdles if he sticks with his plan to stay out of the race until after Virginia’s Nov. 7 General Assembly races, which have the potential to boost or dim his national prospects. Filing deadlines to get on the presidential ballot will have passed in some key states by that date or soon after.
Youngkin’s two missions — winning the statehouse and the White House — are intertwined; Virginia Republicans must hold the House and flip the Senate to preserve the very thing that brought Youngkin to national prominence: his reputation for energizing MAGA voters without alienating suburban moderates.
As he’s focused on Virginia’s elections, Youngkin has continued to prepare for a White House run. The governor courted billionaire GOP megadonors early this month in the Hamptons at the home of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. He’s due in Atlanta Saturday to serve as closing speaker at a conference that GOP commentator Erick Erickson has organized to showcase a half-dozen declared Republican presidential candidates.
One major GOP donor is publicly pushing for Youngkin: Thomas Peterffy, who told the Financial Times in April that he was putting contributions to DeSantis “on hold” to protest what he perceived as the governor’s extreme positions on some social issues. “Because of his stance on abortion and book banning … myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry,” he told the paper.
Peterffy gave Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC $1 million as he backed away from DeSantis in April and followed up Aug. 3 with another $1 million contribution. The Palm Beach, Fla. resident, who declined an interview request from The Washington Post raved about Youngkin’s presidential prospects on Fox Business in late July and on Fox News this month.
The previously unreported meetings took place months ago, but Murdoch’s ask has taken on fresh relevance as Youngkin has continued to lay the groundwork for a last-minute White House bid and as Murdoch outlets hyped his presidential prospects this month with a mix of sober Wall Street Journal analysis and buzzy Page Six blurbs.
The New York Times reported in July — in a story on how Fox’s coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis turned tougher as his presidential campaign began struggling — that Murdoch had privately told people that he would like Youngkin to enter the race.
It was not known until now that the New York billionaire, whose family owns a controlling stake in both News Corp. and Fox Corp., had personally encouraged Youngkin to jump in — although the Virginia governor is thought to be waiting for whether his party prevails in the state’s November elections before making a decision on whether to run.
The two men have spoken on at least two occasions in person about a possible Youngkin run, according to two people familiar with the long-running discussion between them. The more recent of the two discussions was in the spring and the timing of the first was unclear, according to a third person familiar with their interactions, who, like the others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
A Fox spokesman said Murdoch was not available for an interview. Dave Rexrode, chairman of Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC, did not respond to questions about Murdoch but said the recent flurry of attention from his media empire stems from Youngkin’s success in Virginia.
“Virginia’s getting attention because parents still matter and Governor Youngkin’s commonsense conservative leadership is working,” Rexrode said in a written statement to The Washington Post. “There’s more to do, so the Governor’s not taking his eye off Virginia; these races are too important.”
Alliance between Murdoch family and Donald Trump is changing
Murdoch has long felt that former president Donald Trump’s seeming obsession with the results of the 2020 election will only serve to drag the Republican Party down in a general election. He is also keenly aware of the damage that Trump’s message about the election cost his own company, which was forced to pay more than three quarters of a billion dollars to Dominion Voting Systems in a settlement in a defamation action earlier this year.
One of the people familiar with the Murdoch-Youngkin conversations cautioned that Murdoch has previously urged others to get into the ring with Trump, as he did with former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg during the 2016 Republican primary.
“Not everyone listens to Rupert, and Rupert’s instincts aren’t always perfect,” this person said. “But he has always believed that some competition is better than none at all, and he would like to see some debate about the issues in the primary.”
Murdoch’s support could be a great asset to any White House hopeful given his media empire’s reach with conservative audiences, but it is no golden ticket. In addition, Murdoch is ultimately a pragmatist and the people familiar with the Youngkin discussions said that Murdoch could once again throw his support behind Trump. But given Fox’s settlement with Dominion, the media mogul is more tentative than ever about the former president, these people said.
As Murdoch outlets turned on Trump — The New York Post famously covered his 2024 campaign kickoff under the headline, “Florida man makes announcement” — their conservative audience largely stuck with the former president. The praise and attention that Fox showered on DeSantis as he first emerged as Trump’s chief rival did not forestall the governor’s more recent fall in the polls.
Inside the simmering feud between Donald Trump and Fox News
A political newcomer and former Carlyle Group executive who plowed $20 million of his own money into his 2021 gubernatorial campaign, Youngkin vaulted from obscurity to lists of potential presidential contenders the moment he flipped seemingly blue Virginia red.
A recent Virginia Commonwealth University poll found Virginians favor Youngkin over President Biden for president in a hypothetical head-to-head contest (44 percent to 37 percent), but he barely registers in national GOP primary polls. Nevertheless, White House buzz has persisted.
Some political insiders see a path for Youngkin based on his ties to the donor class and a personal fortune that Forbes put at $470 million at the time of his election, appeal to evangelicals as someone who started a church in his basement, and ability to wage MAGA culture wars in the style of the friendly dad next door.
Yet Youngkin would face tremendous logistical hurdles if he sticks with his plan to stay out of the race until after Virginia’s Nov. 7 General Assembly races, which have the potential to boost or dim his national prospects. Filing deadlines to get on the presidential ballot will have passed in some key states by that date or soon after.
Youngkin’s two missions — winning the statehouse and the White House — are intertwined; Virginia Republicans must hold the House and flip the Senate to preserve the very thing that brought Youngkin to national prominence: his reputation for energizing MAGA voters without alienating suburban moderates.
As he’s focused on Virginia’s elections, Youngkin has continued to prepare for a White House run. The governor courted billionaire GOP megadonors early this month in the Hamptons at the home of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. He’s due in Atlanta Saturday to serve as closing speaker at a conference that GOP commentator Erick Erickson has organized to showcase a half-dozen declared Republican presidential candidates.
One major GOP donor is publicly pushing for Youngkin: Thomas Peterffy, who told the Financial Times in April that he was putting contributions to DeSantis “on hold” to protest what he perceived as the governor’s extreme positions on some social issues. “Because of his stance on abortion and book banning … myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry,” he told the paper.
Peterffy gave Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC $1 million as he backed away from DeSantis in April and followed up Aug. 3 with another $1 million contribution. The Palm Beach, Fla. resident, who declined an interview request from The Washington Post raved about Youngkin’s presidential prospects on Fox Business in late July and on Fox News this month.
