How Rupert Murdoch quietly helped Mike Johnson survive Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ouster

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Rupert Murdoch might not be flexing for the cameras, but he did just quietly demonstrate the power he still wields inside the Republican Party.

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The course of events could have played out far differently if Murdoch had chosen to go the other direction. If Murdoch allowed or instructed Fox News to pour gasoline on the Johnson criticism, the speaker would have had a far larger fire on his hands. Instead of it being confined to Carlson’s unhinged vlogs and Bannon’s podcast rants, it would have spread to the mainstream swath of the GOP and likely put his leadership in serious peril. Further, if Fox News had played up the attacks, it would have incentivized other Republicans to join in on the efforts.

Most importantly, it could have very well affected how Trump ultimately chose to respond to the situation. Instead of voicing support for Johnson, it is not difficult to see 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. Instead, Murdoch — invisibly — helped Johnson escape what could have been a dire situation. The 93-year-old billionaire was arguably Johnson’s most important, yet least-talked about, ally.

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

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