An explosive new filing in the Dominion lawsuit shows that the News Corp head knew the ex-president’s 2020 claims were false but kept peddling them to keep ratings up.
by Joan Walsh, The Nation
It’s not red or blue—it is green.”
That single sentence sums up Rupert Murdoch’s craven approach to pushing Donald Trump’s election lies, documented in the bombshell new filing in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Some of the self-damning Murdoch quotes came from his own deposition, others from e-mails or texts with other Fox management, board members and politicians.
Specifically, the red-blue-green quote came after he was asked by Dominion lawyers why he continued to give a platform to Mike Lindell, purveyor of lies about election fraud and lumpy pillows. After mocking the My Pillow guy’s election fraud blather—“At first you think it’s comic, then you get bored and irritated”—Murdoch admitted that Lindell remained on the air because he was a top Fox advertiser. That would be one of the most craven admissions in journalism history—if Fox were practicing actual journalism.
This latest Dominion filing in some ways tops the last one, in which it was confirmed that Fox’s three top prime-time hosts, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, knew Trump defenders were lying on air—and yet continued to book them. The trio had seconds-long truth outbreaks, in texts to one another, but in the end, they feared lying less than they feared losing their audience, and with it the network’s towering profitability. Carlson urged the firing of a Fox journalist who fact-checked Trump’s lies on air. “Please get her fired,” he said, adding: “It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.”
Recent Posts
Ten Years After The Flint Water Crisis, Distrust And Anger Linger
May 6, 2024
Take Action Now A city is forever changed, and so is residents’ relationship with their water. The betrayal of trust by the institutions meant to…
New Era Of Inequality: Billionaires Pay Less In Taxes Than The Working Class
May 6, 2024
Take Action Now Economist Gabriel Zucman’s analysis reveals that for the first time, U.S. billionaires have a lower effective tax rate than…
Israel Has Begun Bombing Rafah As Civilians Try To Flee
May 6, 2024
Take Action Now Reports: Airstrikes begin shortly after an evacuation order was issued. by Connor Echols, Responsible Statecraft Israel has begun…
AIPAC Is Secretly Funneling Money Into A Congressional Race, Sources Say. Here Are The Details.
May 6, 2024
Take Action Now AIPAC is not done trying to take down the Squad. By Ryan Grim, The Intercept In April, a super PAC ostensibly committed to…