Ben Smith: “Murdoch Understands That Publishers Are Forever, Politicians Come and Go”
Semafor’s Ben Smith on Monday’s “Morning Joe” addressed the current feud between President Donald Trump and Wall Street Journal owner Rupert Murdoch.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, ‘MORNING JOE’ HOST: Ben, we didn’t even ask you about actually the most fascinating part of this story that’s come out the past four days, and that is the lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch. Give us your take on that and where you think that ends. You know, I think it’s pretty remarkable. BEN SMITH, SEMAFOR: You’ve seen a lot of media owners trim their sales, cave, fire people in response to pressure from Donald Trump. And Rupert Murdoch, who a lot of us have covered for a very long time, I think has been tougher on Trump than basically any of his peers. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, very, very critical of the president. And you do get the sense that Murdoch, who is in his 90s, believes that, like, he is going to be here long after Donald Trump is gone, you know, and that he is sticking to his guns in a way that – because he’s also been doing this a lot longer than the Jeff Bezos is and Patrick Soon-Shiong, and I think he understands, you know, publishers are forever, politicians come and go.
