Former Daily Beast editor Tina Brown believes Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and acting CEO of Fox News, will throw President Trump “under the bus” after he proves to no longer be a “useful” ally in the White House.
“For the moment he supports Trump and will play him for whatever he needs: deregulation, tax breaks, relaxed oversight of deals and mergers, whatever he has cooking,” Brown told the Hollywood Reporter of Murdoch, whose cable news network has come under fire for its sycophantic coverage of the president.
“But once Trump ceases to be useful, Rupert will throw him under the bus,” she continued.
Brown, the British editor who was once at the helm of publications like Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, added she had “no doubt that Murdoch thinks Trump is a fool, but he’s a useful fool who can do Murdoch many favors.”
The 63-year-old currently heads Tina Brown Media and is promoting her new book, The Vanity Fair Diaries: 1983-1992.
Today’s political environment brought to mind the 1980s when she was heading the Conde Nast magazine, Brown said.
“Starting with Donald Trump of course, who keeps reoccurring and resurfacing like a virus at various moments throughout the diary,” she explained. “The Trump Cabinet is like the ’80s all over again.”
Brown recalled first meeting Trump at a party at Ann Getty’s house, “where he flirted with me wildly and complained about the opera.”
“He was awful, but he was funny,” she said. “In London, we call people of Trump’s type ‘Jack the Lad’ — semi-attractive, filthy rich and very dumb. It wasn’t until later I realized how dangerous he could be.”
