Jake Tapper calls on Murdochs and Fox to denounce voting conspiracies

CNN anchor Jake Tapper made a direct appeal on Friday morning to Fox News and the Murdoch family, whose media conglomerate oversees the network, to “put their country above their profits” and stop backing up the president’s unfounded claims of widespread voting fraud. At least one member of the Murdochs agrees. 

“I don’t normally talk about any competing networks, but the Murdochs and the people at Fox have an obligation to put their country above their profits,” Mr Tapper said. “It is very important that people make it very clear that this election, there is no credible evidence that we have seen of widespread fraud. By all accounts, Joe Biden is on the precipice of becoming president, fair and square.”

Fox News hosts and commentators, echoing the president, have made unsubstantiated claims of a voter fraud conspiracy, including urging the president to file lawsuits in every state to challenge the election.

Stopping this rhetoric, Mr Tapper said, “is a matter of life and death,” pointing to the recent arrest of two men in Philadelphia on firearms charges who may have been heading towards a vote-processing center.

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“People that have the privilege of sitting in seats like we are now have the obligation to convey that to their viewers so there is a peaceful transfer of power and so that there isn’t violence,” he added.

No one at the network appears to have responded to the CNN anchor’s plea, but Kathryn Murdoch, who is married to James Murdoch, son of News Corp and Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch, agreed on Twitter. (Representatives from Fox News have not yet responded to a request for comment).

Fox News and the president have a complicated relationship, sometimes symbiotic and sometimes adversarial. The president is a dedicated viewer who often receives favorable coverage on the network, but has grown more critical of negative coverage in recent months and was reportedly furious when Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden ahead of other networks. He and his adviser Jared Kushner reportedly lobbied Rupert Murdoch to reverse the call. His supporters outside an Arizona election facility chanted, “Fox News sucks!” The network hasn’t taken back its prediction, but reportedly considered advising anchors not to call Joe Biden “president-elect” even if the network called the presidential race, which it has denied.  

While Fox News and News Corp’s other media properties like The Wall Street Journal are known for their conservative perspectives, James and Kathyrn Murdoch have in recent years carved out a more liberal niche in the billionaire media family.

They are among the top 25 donors in the 2020 election cycle, including giving around $4 million to Democrats, over $1 million of which went to a fund for Joe Biden, according to Open Secrets.

Shortly before acknowledging Mr Tapper’s statement, Ms Murdoch seemed to compare the president to a “right wing dictator” on Twitter.

James Murdoch, who resigned from News Corp’s board of directors in July citing “disagreements over certain editorial content,” owns a stake in the more progressive VICE Media, and he and Ms Murdoch have supported nonprofit efforts around climate change and ending partisan gridlock.