'Which side will they take?' Why Trump’s WSJ lawsuit puts Fox News in a dangerous position

President Donald Trump, on Friday, July 18, filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its parent company News Corp in response to recent reporting on Trump's connection to Jeffrey Epstein. Trump often rages against liberal and progressive figures in the mainstream media, but in this case, he's targeting someone who has given him a great deal of support: right-wing Rupert Murdoch, who owns the WSJ, also owns Fox News and its sister channel Fox Business.

In an article published on July 21, The New Republic's Michael Tomasky stresses that Trump's WSJ lawsuit puts Fox News employees in a complicated position: Will they side with Trump, or with their own boss, Rupert Murdoch?

"These next few days are going to be interesting," Tomasky writes. "The open question: How will Rupert Murdoch's Fox charges cover the explosive story popped last week by Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal? Also, what kind of critical gaze will they cast on Trump's alleged suggestive 2003 birthday greeting to Jeffrey Epstein?.... So which side will Fox take?"

READ MORE: 'Can't beat the president': Former Trump lawyer issues major prediction about Rupert Murdoch

Tomasky adds, "One would think it would take the side, duh, of the man who owns it. But while Rupert may own it, he doesn't run it. That dark duty is the province of Lachlan Murdoch and Suzanne Scott. And the question of where their loyalties lay might be a little more complicated than blood."

Trump's WSJ lawsuit, according to Tomasky, could set off some major infighting at Fox News — and puts Murdoch "in a position he’s never been in before."

"It comes down to this question: Do the executives and the on-air personalities on Fox News think of themselves more as part of a journalistic team in which their teammates are the serious investigative and non-ideological reporters of The Wall Street Journal?" Tomasky argues. "Or do they more likely think of themselves as part of an ideological team that exists to advance the political fortunes of Donald Trump and convince a nation of suspicious septuagenarians that what liberals mainly want to do is de-gender their grandchildren? When I put it that way, the answer seems pretty obvious, no?"

Tomasky continues, "Lachlan Murdoch and Scott answered this question once before, let’s remember. On Election Night 2020, the network had two camps: The people, both in front of and behind the camera, who obviously wanted Donald Trump to beat Joe Biden; and those two guys on the decision desk who said no, sorry, Biden won Arizona. The two honest guys are the ones who no longer work there. Bill Sammon announced his retirement, and Chris Stirewalt was fired."

READ MORE: 'Reeks of regret': Republicans suffering 'remorse and shame' over 'grudgingly' obeying Trump

Michael Tomasky's full article for The New Republic is available at this link.