From Schwartz Media. I'm Ruby Jones.
This is seven am on the eve of the American election. Poles say Harris and Trump are neck and neck. But of course if you listen to Donald Trump, he says that's not true.
Just a fake. Paul Hey, think of it right before the election.
Then I'm three points down.
I'm not down in Iowa. It's nothing new for the former president.
But what is new is the way America's biggest cable news network is handling it.
So there is former President Trump and Pennsylvania.
Fox News has started cutting away from rallies where Trump tells lies.
But if Trump.
Loses the election and refuses to admit it, the real test will be in what Fox does next. Their support of the Big Lie, and the hundreds of millions of dollars they had to pay to settle a defamation lawsuit leaves them in a tricky spot. Tell MAGA supporters what they want to hear, even if it isn't true, or risk losing a huge audience.
Today.
Author of the successor and host of Rupert the Last Mogul, Paddy Manning on Fox's role in the US election and how the Murdock's secret court case could shape the future of democracy. It's Wednesday, November sixth, so, Patty, it's election week.
We've arrived, terrifying.
We're about to find out who will win. So as we get closer and closer to that moment, can we talk about how much influence the Murdoch cable network Fox has on this race? Yes?
Absolutely, I mean, as the leading cable news channel, which it has been for almost twenty years, it's nothing new that Fox News is setting the agenda through this US presidential election. Fox News was alone amongst American cable networks in really covering President Biden's increasing age fragility, questioning is competence.
The White House has a massive problem with Joe Biden.
It's an age problem, and it's bad, and it's now obvious that Joe Biden is not fit to serve as or president.
And then, of course Fox also would feel that the southern border and illegal immigration is one of their top issues. Fox News has been throughout the Biden presidency stoking that issue.
Wait until you hear this. The Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirms that more than thirteen thousand illegal immigrants convicted of murder have been caught at the border and then released into the United States.
So I think Fox News has had a big impact on the support for Trump, but they have been a little bit careful when it comes to the dangerous territory of election denial, and that looks like a policy position that they've taken.
And then from that moment, donn it was a whole different ballgame in Texas and all over all.
Right, well, considering a monitor of this, just one slight thing I just wanted to add because when you hear it, and you heard it from Donald Trump about the twenty twenty election, and it got millions and more vaulted. In act, he did get millions and more vaults he still lost that election.
That yeah, Well, let's talk about what happened in the last election briefly in twenty twenty, because I think that is relevant here. When Fox called Arizona for Joe Biden, that turned into a watershed moment for the network, didn't it.
Yes, When the decision desk called Arizona our swing state for Biden, which made it almost impossible for Trump to win, that was a absolutely critical moment in the history of Fox News as well as in the history of US politics because the ratings for Fox News plunged and Fox News panicked. We know now that from the very top, at the level of Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdock themselves and all the executive leadership at Fox News, they were
panicking about the hemorrhaging of viewers to the right. And what we saw then was the beginning of the Big Live.
An intel source telling me that President Trump did in fact win the election.
We're talking about the alteration and changes and millions of votes, some being dumped that were for President Trump, some being flipped that were for President Trump.
We don't know how many votes were stolen on Tuesday night. We don't know anything about the software that many see was rigged.
We don't know.
And that was a baseless conspiracy theory. And we saw that culminate, of course in the insurrection where Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol, And that was the moment when Lachlan proved himself as Rupert's successor. Because Fox News did succeed in winning back the MAGA audience, the big Lie. It did work, but it also led to one of the biggest defamation settlements ever in American history.
So what lessons do you think that the murdocks took from having to pay that huge amount of money.
Well, since then, a lot has happened. Fox News avoided Trump for a long time. They wouldn't put him on air, and then when they did put him on air, they would not carry him live to make sure that they had a chance to edit out any damaging or dangerous election denial, for example, that he might spout.
The polls are just as corrupt as some of the writers back there.
Just in the last twenty four hours, we've seen an example where there's just been a pole that's come out that Kamala Harris is ahead in Iowa, and he started at a rally dissing that pole.
I got a pole him ten points up in Iowa. So my enemies just pushed out upon.
Him, free down and at that point they cut away from his comments. And they've done that a few times this year. So they are clearly watching like hawks for those moments where Trump is straying into He's lying right.
So Fox is being more careful than it has been in the past.
How is Trump handling that?
Well, Democrats in this cycle, rather than seeing Fox News purely as the enemy, have realized that they need to be there. And so Trump is constantly taking shots at Fox News on his Truth social platform, For example, with the interview that Brett Bair did with KRMLA Harris.
You're not Joe Biden, You're not Donald Trump.
But nothing comes to mind that you would do differently. Let me be very clear, my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency.
Trump was complaining that Democrats appearing on Fox News were having quote a negative effect on the election, and he has complained about the Harris campaign running ads on Fox News.
For nineteen days. I don't think we should do that anymore. I think you shouldn't plan their goative ads because by time on Fox you know, by the time you do it, you said what are you doing?
And met actually personally with Rupert Murdoch and told him, don't put on negative commercials, don't put on there the horrible people that come in.
There are horrible people that come and lie. I'm going to say, Rupert, please do it this way right, and then we're going to have a victory. Because they think everyone wants to that.
He just doesn't want to see democrats on Fox News at all. Now, whether you know, Rupert Murdock obviously prepared to sit down with Trump. That doesn't mean that Trump will.
Get his way.
Nonetheless, he's getting lots of soft coverage, some of it kind of cringe worthy. And last week he was on Fox and Friends and I was asked by a viewer what his favorite farm animal was.
What is it?
Cows?
I love cows, But if we go with Kamala, you won't have any cows. And I don't want to ruin this kid's day.
You know, inside Fox News, they would probably feel that they're doing something right if they're getting criticized on the left and right by Democrats and also, you know, by Trump. But the real test will be how Fox News covers Trump if he loses and refuses to accept.
Defeat after the break the family battle. That could determine the future of Fox News.
They are fighting so hard to steal this damn thing.
Look at what's going on, Look at what's going on.
In your state.
Every day they're talking about extending hours and so what whoever heard of this stuff?
Patty?
In recent days, we've been hearing Donald Trump and his team laying the groundwork for another stolen election claim should he lose So if that possibility does come to pass, how do you think that Fox News will react this time? Well?
I think this is the biggest test for Lochlan Murdoch, who is indisputably now in charge of the Murdoch media empire since Rupert retired at the end of last year. This is the first US presidential election in which Lochlan Murdock has the ultimate say, and is Fox News does again what it did in twenty twenty and allow baseless claims of a stolen election to go to air and
to gain traction within the MAGA audience. I think Fox News's position in the coverage of the aftermath of this election will be absolutely critical to the acceptance of the election result on the right. And I think that is the test for Lochlan Murdock this time around. Are we going to see a repeat of twenty twenty in twenty twenty four?
And there are many tests for Lachlan Murdock lining up. There is, of course, a court case in Nevada happening right now. Can you tell me about that?
Yes?
Well, and I think they're connected Ruby. So since July we've known since the New York Times broke this incredible story that the Murdoch family themselves are at war in court over an attempt by Rupert and Lachlan Murdock to amend the terms of the Murdoch family Trust.
Now, in the real life succession battle playing out a Nevada court room, Rupert Murdoch is fighting to change his family trust so that his eldest son gets controlled of his media empire.
The ninety three year old tycoon wanting to protect the conservative leanings of his media portfolio, which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Post. The family feud pitts Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan against.
The three other siblings, James, Elizabeth, and Prudence, his eldest child joining.
Me now is what we found out was Rupert had gone to a Nevada court to amend the family trust so that when he died, Lachlan would get unassailable control of the trust and could not be outvoted by his siblings.
Murdoch, are you confident of victory?
We saw in September an extraordinary saying of something out of succession, all sides of the Murdoch family arriving in their big black cars trundling up to give evidence in these sealed proceedings, and we're waiting for news as to how that court case will result. And you know, either way, the likelihood is, given the caliber of the lawyers on both sides here, that you will see an appeal. So this could drag on for months, right.
So it seems like, depending on what happens with this case, on who comes out victorious, this could be the last election that Fox will wield this level of influence within the American ride.
That's an interesting question. So it depends on your interpretation of what the siblings are trying to achieve here. So James Murdoch has been outspoken. He and his wife Catherine have been prominent donors to the Democrats that have been critical of the Murdock media or over the election denial, over coverage of race issues, and conspiracy theories like the
Great Replacement theory. But they also have an argument that bears on the business of Fox News itself, which is that if you could preserve the center right politics but just dial down the crazy, you might be able to avoid expensive defamation payoffs. And it might be that that is a better way to run Fox News longer term. Of course, the proceedings are sealed, so it's all speculation, but I think that will be part of the argument that James and the siblings are making inside that Nevada
court room. Rupert's argument is that Lachlan is the best steward of the Murdoch media assets. They argue it would be economic suicide to try and tack Fox News back towards the middle. So if Fox News was undermining the election result, I don't think that would be a great look for their legal team inside that Nevada court room. And I think that Fox will not want to have a repeat of twenty twenty. They don't want to be writing any more defamation checks. They don't want any more
litigation coming out of this election. But also I think it must be in the back of Lachlan Murdock's mind how irresponsible coverage of the twenty twenty four election might sound inside the Nevada court room, in that court case that he is now embroiled in with his siblings.
Patty, thank you so much for your time today.
Thank you. Ruby.
To hear more about that court case, you can listen to Paddy Manning's three part podcast series murdocks endgame, which Aird on ABC's background briefing. Also in the news today, a legal challenge against Elon Musk's million dollar voter giveaway has failed in a court in Pennsylvania, with a judge
ruling the election stunt can continue. Pledged to hand out one million dollars daily to registered swing state voters who signed his petition, with the pack already giving away seventeen million dollars us Musk's lawyer argued that the giveaway was not an illegal lottery, revealing that the winners were not chosen by chance, as Musk had previously implied, but instead pre selected based on who would make an effective spokesperson
for the campaign. And Opposition leader Peter Dutton has warned the Coalition party room against speaking out on abortion laws, following comments made by National Senator To Center and avadeber Price in a media interview condemning late term abortions. In a private party room address leaked to the media, Dutton confirmed that there will be no changes to their policies if.
They win government.
I'm Ruby Jones, thanks for listening, and seven AM will be back tomorrow with coverage of the US election results.
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