Rupert Murdoch: News Corp. RGA Donation ‘Had Nothing to do with Fox News’

In August, News Corp., the parent company of Fox News Channel, made a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association. As TVNewser pointed out at the time, media companies routinely give campaign cash to political organizations, though the RGA donation was unusually large.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch was in Washington D.C. yesterday to accept an award from The Media Institute, and he told Politico’s Keach Hagey that the donation had nothing to do with Fox News, or even politics:

“It doesn’t reflect on Fox News,” he said. “It had nothing to do with Fox News. The RGA [gift] was actually [a result of] my friendship with John Kasich.”

Kasich is a close friend of Murdoch, and a gubernatorial hopeful in Ohio. He is also a former Fox News host. News Corp. also recently made a $1 million donation to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

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