Murdoch media praise international right-wing politicians targeting George Soros
Fox Business and the New York Post deploy antisemitic smear against Soros' supposed plans to create a more “globalist society”
Written by Craig Harrington
Published
In a conspiracy theory-laden segment, Fox Business seemed to openly plagiarize a recent article from its corporate cousin, the New York Post, while praising “the top five anti-Soros political leaders” supposedly resisting billionaire George Soros, whose philanthropic and political donations have turned him into a boogeyman among right-wing media.
On the May 15 edition of Fox Business’ Varney & Co., host Stuart Varney and correspondent Ashley Webster discussed what Varney described as “a group of conservative leaders” who want to “limit George Soros' influence on politics” in their home countries. Webster then went on to praise four foreign leaders from conservative and right-wing populist political parties — Poland's Jarosław Kaczyński, Albania's Belind Këlliçi, Italy's Giorgia Meloni, and France's Bruno Retailleau — as well as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, all of whom he described as “fighting back” against Soros.
Webster’s claims against Soros are reminiscent of the conspiratorial pablum continuously spewed by Soros-obsessed commentators in the United States. He remarked that the leaders say Soros seeks to “destabilize” countries from within by “promoting liberal values” and progressive prosecutors, and pushing "mass migration" to “undermine national sovereignty” — all concepts that have been endlessly promoted by Fox News and other right-wing outlets.
Webster concluded his litany by brazenly declaring that Soros “believes that only by upending the status quo can a more perfect liberal, globalist society emerge.” The "globalist" modifier here is a now-notorious antisemitic reference casually employed by right-media media.
Bizarrely, the segment never mentioned the New York Post article from which it was clearly drawn (even repeating some exact language), even though the piece’s author, Miranda Devine, was the featured guest on the segment immediately preceding. Devine instead used her time to promote another obsession of right-wing fabulist media personalities: Hunter Biden’s laptop.