Media mogul Rupert Murdoch says Donald Trump didn’t perform as well during Tuesday night’s debate as in past contests.
“Great debate,” Murdoch tweeted Tuesday of the fourth GOP debate in Milwaukee, hosted by his Fox Business Network. “All did well – Carson, Bush, others did well, perhaps Rubio best of all.
“With all doing well, Trump did not stand out like past,” Murdoch added. “Kasich, Cruz talked nonsense on banking, Trump likewise on immigration.”
{mosads}Trump has previously feuded with Fox News Channel, also owned by Murdoch, accusing it of unfair coverage.
Murdoch on Wednesday also singled out former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) for especially notable performances.
“Fiorina [was] best prepared,” Murdoch wrote on Twitter. “Maybe great at State Dept.
“Undercard debate, all did better than expected,” he said. “Chris Christie seemed in a different class. Possible to see as chief executive.”
Christie missed the threshold for Fox Business Network’s main event because of his polling numbers, and participated in the undercard debate.
He nonetheless delivered a strong performance, focusing his attacks on Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Fiorina, meanwhile, earned cheers for attacking the role drug companies and health insurers play in supporting ObamaCare.
“Every health provider ought to publish its costs, its prices, its outcomes because, as patients, we don’t know what we’re buying,” she said during the night’s primetime debate.
“It is crony capitalism at its worst,” she said of ties between the pharmaceutical industry and the Obama administration.
“Healthcare has always been a cozy little game,” Fiorina added. “We have to try the free market.”
The next GOP presidential debate is scheduled for Dec. 15 in Las Vegas.