Fox News creator Rupert Murdoch won’t be backing Donald Trump for president this time around. And for Jimmy Fallon, that’s some pretty sweet irony, considering Murdoch withdrew his support of the twice impeached former president in order to give it to a younger candidate.
As results of the midterm elections poured in this week, almost all of Trump’s chosen candidates lost their bids for office. In the days that followed, the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal called Trump “the Republican Party’s Biggest Loser,” while the New York Post ran a cover depicting him as “Trumpty Dumpty.” It was a surprising move for many, considering Murdoch’s support of Trump in the past.
Now, according to a new report, Murdoch has informed Trump that he will not support this campaign, instead supporting Florida governor Ron DeSantis — who the New York Post called “DeFuture” this week — if he decides to run.
“Apparently, Rupert Murdoch isn’t supporting Trump because he prefers Ron DeSantis,” Fallon joked on Tuesday. “Ironically, that’s the first time Trump was the one to get dumped for someone younger.”
Fallon also predicted that Murdoch’s turn on Trump, who is the subject of multiple ongoing investigations, will likely also create a conflict of loyalty for one Fox News host in particular.
“Yup, Rupert Murdoch is breaking away from Trump, so now they’re gonna set Sean Hannity in the middle of the room and see which one he goes to,” Fallon joked.
Trump officially declared his candidacy for 2024 on Tuesday night, giving a speech from Mar-a-Lago. And the choice in locations also became a target of Fallon’s monologue, with the host wondering if maybe the place that federal agents recently raided — or as he called it, “the summer home of the National Archives” — wasn’t the best decision.
“I’m pretty sure this is the first presidential campaign to be kicked off from an active crime scene,” Fallon mocked. “Seriously, was the set from ‘Dahmer’ not available?”
You can watch Fallon’s full monologue in the video above.
