How Rupert Murdoch Quietly Helped Mike Johnson Survive Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Attempted Overthrow

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Rupert Murdoch may not be performing on camera, but he quietly demonstrated the power he still wields within the Republican Party.

The right-wing media mogul’s empire, which includes Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post, not-so-subtly endorsed Mike Johnson as Marjorie Taylor Greene waged an all-out attack on the House speaker for his decision to approve an aid package for Ukraine. Murdoch’s powerful media outfit not only expressed her support for Johnson, but also launched scathing attacks on Greene, with the Post even going so far as to slam her as “MOSCOW MARJORIE” on its cover.

But Murdoch was largely an anomaly in the right-wing media universe. While his media group supported Johnson, the hardline MAGA Media faction spent weeks attacking him. These outlets and personalities, including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit and others, portrayed Johnson to their audiences as a soft Republican who had betrayed the conservative movement and was instead doing the bidding of the Democratic Party. .

However, the barrage of missiles fired directly at Johnson failed to deliver a fatal blow to the House Speaker on Wednesday, and the House quickly voted to rescind its resolution to remove Johnson from his leadership position. The end of the embarrassing debacle came after she failed to win the support of Donald Trump and other Republican Party allies, coupled with the fact that Democrats threw their support behind Johnson.

At Fox News, the vote was treated with such disdain that the network offered only passing coverage as members voted in real time. By contrast, CNN and MSNBC offered much more robust live coverage.

The episode, however, was instructive in examining the centers of power within the Republican Party, underscoring the enormous influence Murdoch still wields over the party. While Murdoch’s power has waned in recent years, his empire continues to serve as a source of gravity in the right-wing media universe. Without Murdoch Media joining the chorus and denouncing Johnson, Greene’s efforts failed to gain enough momentum to jeopardize Johnson’s leadership.

The course of events could have been very different if Murdoch had chosen to go in the other direction. If Murdoch allowed or ordered Fox News to pour gasoline on Johnson’s criticisms, the speaker would have had a much bigger fire on his hands. Instead of limiting himself to Carlson’s unhinged vlogs and Bannon’s podcast speeches, he would have reached out to the mainstream of the Republican Party and likely put his leadership in serious jeopardy. Furthermore, if Fox News had exaggerated the attacks, it would have encouraged other Republicans to join the efforts.

Most importantly, it could have affected how Trump ultimately decided to respond to the situation. Instead of expressing his support for Johnson, it’s not hard to imagine a world in which Trump, influenced by Fox News, turned on the House speaker and gave the green light for other Republicans to do the same.

But none of that ever happened. On the other hand, Murdoch… invisibly – helped Johnson escape what could have been a terrible situation. The 93-year-old billionaire was arguably Johnson’s most important, if least talked about, ally.

After all, in other right-wing media, Johnson was portrayed as a traitor. And without Murdoch Media acting as an effective Iron Dome around Johnson, preventing nasty attacks from penetrating the heart of the Republican Party, he would almost certainly have faced a serious threat to his power.