Biden described Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch as 'one of the most dangerous men in the world', a new book says
- Joe Biden has been highly critical of Fox News and Rupert Murdoch in private, a new book says.
- He described Murdoch of "one of the most dangerous men in the world," in a portion published by CNN.
President Joe Biden described Fox News owner Rupert of "one of the most dangerous men in the world," according to excerpts of a new book published by CNN.
The book, by New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, is entitled 'This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future."
The excerpts describe Biden's anger that Fox News in 2021 promoted misinformation about the COVID pandemic, vaccines against the coronavirus, and the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Biden "assessed" Fox News "as one of the most destructive forces in the United States," according to the book.
His remarks about Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul who owns Fox News, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal Journal, and a range of other titles in the UK and Australia, were made to an unnamed associate in mid-2021, according to the book.
The remarks are notable because Biden has never criticized Murdoch publicly before.
Insider contacted Fox News and News Corp, the umbrella company for several of Murdoch's businesses, for comment.
The president has clashed with Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy at White House press briefings, and has mocked the network publicly for its negative coverage of his administration.
Murdoch has long championed the aggressive, conservative- leaning coverage which Fox News has become known for, and the network has long taken a hostile approach to coverage of Democratic presidents.
In recent years the network has also promoted conspiracy theories and misinformation about issues like COVID vaccines, the 2020 election, and the Jan 6 insurrection.
The increasingly conspiratorial tilt of its coverage led senior staffers, such as anchor Chris Wallace, to leave the network, and attracted the criticism of former top-rated host Bill O'Reilly.
The network is run by Murdoch's son, Lachlan Murdoch, who has maintained the network's consistently high ratings.
Back in October 2020, the Rupert Murdoch projected a victory for Biden over Donald Trump in the presidential election.
According to a book by author Michael Wolff, he personally made the call to project a victory for Biden in the swing state of Arizona on Fox News on election night, in a sign some interpreted as a weakening of the network's support for Trump.
But the network later veered back towards coverage seemingly aimed at the right-wing, populist movement Trump fomented after Biden took power.