Lincoln Project co-founder and former GOP strategist Steve Schmidt wants the United States to strip Rupert Murdoch of his U.S. citizenship, calling the 91-year-old Australian-born media titan “the most venomous and dangerous foreigner to ever arrive on American soil.”
Murdoch is the man behind News Corp, a massive multi-national conglomerate that in the U.S. owns Fox News, The New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, book publisher HarperCollins, and even realtor.com.
But it is Fox News that Schmidt is focused on.
“The January 6 Committee will prove a massive conspiracy,” Schmidt tweeted Tuesday night. “That conspiracy will likely involve @foxnews hosts and personalities. @rupertmurdoch is responsible for what happens on @foxnews, which has long claimed in Federal Court that is not news but entertainment.”
Taking a dig at Murdoch and the birther movement which Fox News amplified, Schmidt says Murdoch “is not a Birthright Citizen like @BarackObama. He is a Naturalized Citizen. Though it happens rarely, there is a Denaturalization process that can lead to revocation of US Citizenship and removal from the country.”
Murdoch became a U.S. citizen in 1985 so he could own American television stations.
“There are conditions and requirements for Denaturalization,” Schmidt continues. “This should be studied closely by Attorneys. I believe a strong case could be made that @rupertmurdoch, the most venomous and dangerous foreigner to ever arrive on American soil meets it easily.”
Schmidt in his final tweet tags former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who over the past few years has accused Murdoch and his media properties of undermining democracy in the U.S. and in Australia.
Last November Schmidt said Murdoch “has been a pancreatic cancer on democracy, pluralism and decency.”
And in February Schmidt suggested Fox News was an enemy of the U.S., calling it “an American Fifth Column that has declared war on American patriotism.”