Rupert Murdoch’s delight in the Brexit vote was prefigured in an opinion column by the New York Post’s chief political columnist, Michael Goodwin.
The day after the EU referendum poll, Goodwin wrote a piece, “Britain’s vote for freedom proves power is with the people”, which the Post thought so good that it warranted promotion with a poster-style front page.
Goodwin, like Murdoch - who, lest you didn’t know, owns the Post - equated Britain’s decision to quit the EU with the success of Donald Trump.
“The Brits,” wrote Goodwin, “are free. It took them a while, but they finally had their own tea party and their own revolution. I salute them for their courage.”
He praised the people for defying “the pooh-bahs and grandees” who tried “to scare voters into sticking with the status quo.” And he rapped “the establishment media” for telling people “what was good for them”.
Does that mean the Times, the Murdoch-owned title that advocated remain, is no longer part of the establishment?
Goodwin went on to enthuse about Trump having “encouraged and celebrated British independence” while “Obama and Hillary Clinton acted as if their dogs died.”
Then he compared Trump favourably with Boris Johnson. “Elitists” accused Trump of “hate speech” for demanding border controls and the enforcement of immigration laws. Similarly, Johnson was greeted with calls of “racist scum” after the vote. Goodwin continued:
“To be clear, Trump and Johnson are not sainted men of unquestioned virtue. Rather, they are leaders speaking on behalf of millions upon millions of middle- and working-class people who feel left out of the globalised economy...
Just as Trump gets most of his support from those who are poorer and less educated, residents of booming London voted heavily to remain in the EU, while those in the rest of the struggling country voted more heavily to leave.”
According to Goodwin, “millions of people” in both the US and Britain “are in open revolt against the encrusted establishment, economic as well as political.” And he concluded:
“It’s a thing of beauty to see such undaunted courage on both sides of the Atlantic. Count that bond as a special part of the special relationship.”
His view on Trump was echoed by Murdoch who told the Times’s CEO summit that the Republican contender was a “very able man”.
But Murdoch said he favoured the paper’s former staffer, Michael Gove, as the Tory party’s new leader rather than Johnson.
He described Gove as “the most principled and most able” candidate who could “run a fine government.”
The problem, of course, is that Gove has said he won’t stand. So Murdoch may well end up backing the Daily Telegraph’s Boris.