They are certainly in the running. Watch this interview with former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a former journalist himself, lay it all on the line about Rupert Murdoch’s toxic empire:
Here’s some of it in case you can’t listen:
STELTER: What happens on Fox News in the U.S. affects the entire world. And the Murdoch media empire spans that world, as our viewers in the U.K. and Australia know all too well. In Australia, the former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ripped into Rupert Murdoch in a recent parliamentary proceeding.
It is quite rare to hear someone of Turnbull’s stature, speaking out so bluntly against the Murdochs. So, I wanted to find out why, and what he wants all of you to know. Watch.
MALCOLM TURNBULL, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: The Murdoch media empire has enormous political power. It is the most potent political force in Australia. It does not operate as a conventional news or journalistic operation any longer. It’s influenced in the United States and Britain in all of the countries where it is to be found is now utterly partisan.
It is more like a political party, but the only members are the Murdochs. And as you know, it has driven populist right-wing agendas, denying climate change, supporting extremism on the right of politics, of populist politics to the extent most irresponsibly, of all you might think, supporting the proposition that Joe Biden had, in fact, stolen the election, and was not legitimately elected president. And that, of course, was directly connected to the sacking — the assault — of violent assault on the United States Capitol. A shocking event, and one of the darkest days in America’s political history.
STELTER: You, Mr. Turnbull, seem more disturbed by the attack on the U.S. Capitol than a lot of people here in the United States. A lot of conservatives are trying to deny what happened and pretend it wasn’t that bad. But I appreciate that you saw it for what it was.
TURNBULL: Well, it was an assault on democracy. It was — and it — and you see, what Murdoch has delivered, largely through Fox News in the United States, is exactly what Vladimir Putin wanted to achieve with his disinformation campaigns, turning one part of America against another, so exacerbating the divisions that already exist in American society, and undermine the trust Americans have in their democratic institutions.
Now, that’s the — that was the objective of the Russian disinformation campaign. And that is exactly what has been delivered from — by Fox News and by other players in that right-wing, populist, you know, media ecosystem.
And it is, in effect, they — what they have created is a market for crazy. They’ve become unhinged from the facts. That is now basically, they’ve worked out that you can just make stuff up. They — we — you know, everyone talks about and complains about social media. But what is being done by curated media, mainstream media, including and in particular Fox News, has done enormous damage to the United States.
I mean, the question you have to ask yourself, is America a more divided country than it was before? Thanks to Murdoch’s influence, the answer must be yes. Do Americans have less faith in their electoral institutions and their legitimate institutions of government as a result of Murdoch? Yes. Now, that is a terrible outcome. That is a terrible outcome.
STELTER: You said Murdoch has created a market for crazy. I’ve never heard anyone say it quite like that before, a market for crazy. And if this clip is re-aired on Fox News, they’ll say, you’re insulting all of Trump’s supporters, you’re insulting all of Conservative America, and they would say that’s going to harm your cause. Have you thought about what the right way or what the most effective ways are to combat the so-called market for crazy?
TURNBULL: Look, when somebody tells lies and spreads misinformation, and you call them out, you are calling out the liar, not the people that have been taken in by the lies. They’re the victims. Right? So, you know, there — Murdoch has to take responsibility for what he has done. You know, politicians take responsibility, they come up for election every few years.
The power that has been — the power that is exerted by Murdoch and in such a partisan way. I mean, this is — look, I’ve been involved in the media business most of my life since the — since the mid-70s, early 70s, in fact, and, you know, I grew up with newspapers that some of them lent more to the left, others more to the right.
But they basically reported the news straight. And on election day, they would say, you know, vote for this party or vote for that party. Fair enough. What you now have with Murdoch, and you see it with Fox News, so Americans don’t need, you know, an Australian to tell them this, but what you see now is just undiluted propaganda.
STELTER: Fox CEO, Lachlan Murdoch has relocated near you. He’s relocated to Sydney or there abouts. And so, I wonder why you think that is, and whether the two of you should get together and try to hash this out?
TURNBULL: Well, look, I’ve known Lachlan Murdoch for many years. And I’ve spoken to him and his father, about fact, I know pretty much all the family. I’ve spoken to both of them about these issues in the past. I would say that Lachlan is more right-wing than his father, more extreme, and he — I think the bottom line is, they enjoy the power.
You know, a lot of people assume that people are attracted to power simply for the purpose of doing something. That’s a very generous assumption, that many people in the media, in business, in politics are attracted to power for its own sake, and asking them, Why do you want to exert this power?
It’s like saying to somebody, you know, why do you want to have sex? It is an — it’s an urge. It is a — so that — so the power, the influence, that is what turns them on? And it’s very, very dangerous. I mean, I saw the relationship between Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump. I have never seen a politician as deferential to Murdoch, as Trump was.
And, you know, it was — it was clearly a very symbiotic relationship. Murdoch knew very well, I’d heard this, he knew very well what Trump’s shortcomings were. He didn’t think he was qualified to be president. But once he thought he could make him president and have that influence over him, but to what end? He did so.
And so, you ended up again, where did you end? You ended with an assault on the Congress. You ended up with a country that were a third. So, I recently saw the public believe that Biden was not legitimately elected. You know, in defiance of all the facts, and all the reality.
Now, that is a — that is the type of outcome that Vladimir Putin could only dream of having achieved. But it was done by Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan and their organization, and they are not held to account at all, but they should be.
The most chilling comment in that interview is the fact that Lachlan Murdoch, now running the empire, is more right wing than his father, if that’s even possible. But it does explain this kind of outrageous behavior on the network:
Facebook and other social media have a lot to answer for. But if you want to find the heart of the problem, from which all this neo-fascist poison is being mainstreamed, look no further.
Update — My God. This man is being touted as a “reasonable” Republican, destined for higher office among DC insiders.
I didn’t think these Trumpers could shock me. But this does. He’s a Governor, not some Fox blabbermouth. But then, there isn’t really a difference anymore, is there?