Media mogul Rupert Murdoch considered endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Murdoch’s daughter-in-law, Kathryn, attempted to set up a meeting between her father-in-law and Clinton, who she knew from her work with the Clinton Climate Initiative, but Clinton turned down the meeting.
Murdoch called Clinton’s 2016 campaign headquarters personally and left a message, which Clinton returned almost immediately to decline his invitation for a meeting, the New York Times reports.
The effort was unprecedented for Murdoch, who once hosted a Senate fundraiser for Clinton.
Clinton’s refusal came as Fox News helped boost the profile of then-candidate Donald Trump as he rose to prominence. Fox News is a subsidiary of Murdoch’s media empire.
Murdoch was initially opposed to the idea of a Trump presidency, and three sources told the Times that in the past he has said, “He’s a [expletive] idiot,” when referring to the president.
By March 2016, when Trump became the Republican Party’s clear front-runner, Murdoch started to come around to the idea of Trump in the White House.
“If he becomes inevitable, party would be mad not to unify,” Murdoch tweeted.
