MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan slammed the “very real wake of destruction” that Rupert Murdoch is leaving behind as the billionaire media baron prepares to step down as Fox Corp. and News Corp. chair.
“It’s difficult to sum up Murdoch’s unremittingly toxic and pernicious record, to encapsulate the sheer power of Murdoch to do damage to our politics, our media, our world,” Hasan wrote in an essay published on the MSNBC website on Sunday, an adapted version of a monologue he gave on his show in April
“Three of the most destructive events of my lifetime — the Iraq War, the Brexit vote and the rise of Trump and his big lie — simply could not have happened without Rupert Murdoch,” he added.
On Trump, Hasan explained how Fox “laid the groundwork” for his 2016 victory and then “essentially became his propaganda arm” once he was in the White House.
After Trump’s 2020 loss, Hasan noted how Fox and Murdoch “had a moment of opportunity to break with Trump” but lamentably didn’t.
