If you’re looking for the most brutal treatment of Donald Trump’s presidential announcement, look no further. The New York Post has won the title.
In a story headlined “Been there, Don that” that ran on page 26 in print, the New York Post absolutely eviscerates the former president. The story was teased at the bottom of the front page with: “Florida man makes announcement.” (Shout out to Yahoo News’ Dylan Stableford for flagging!)
A sampling of the article:
“With just 720 days to go before the next election, a Florida retiree made the surprise announcement that he was running for president.”
“Avid golfer Donald J. Trump kicked things off at Mar-a-Lago, his resort and classified-documents library.”
“Trump, famous for gold-plated lobbies and for firing people on reality television, will be 78 in 2024.”
“His cholesterol levels are unknown, but his favorite food is a charred steak with ketchup.”
And then, in the final line of the story: “Trump also served as the 45th president.”
It’s brutal. Every. Single. Word.
It’s also not the first time that the New York Post, which is controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has gone after Trump of late. Last week, the Post’s cover image depicted Trump as Humpty Dumpty with the caption: “Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall – can all the GOP’s men put the party back together again?” (Earlier in the week, the Post had put Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on its cover – calling him “DeFuture.”)
The editorial board of another Murdoch-owned outlet – The Wall Street Journal – opined against Trump within the past week as well.
“Mr. Trump has botched the 2022 elections, and it could hand Democrats the Senate for two more years,” read the op-ed. “Mr. Trump had policy successes as President, including tax cuts and deregulation, but he has led Republicans into one political fiasco after another.”
In a separate op-ed, the Journal’s editorial board wrote of DeSantis: “There’s little doubt that his Florida success will grab the attention of voters outside the Sunshine State. You can bet Donald J. Trump was watching – unhappily.”
Asked about Murdoch’s media outlets focusing on DeSantis as the future of the Republican Party, one person familiar with how the billionaire mogul runs the companies told CNN’s Oliver Darcy, “It is not an accident.”
If Murdoch has turned on Trump, he has the ability to make the former president’s life less than ideal over the coming 24 months.