Billionaire media mogul Rupert Murdoch told his company's shareholders that former President Donald Trump needs to move on from the past and focus on the future.
The 90-year-old Murdoch, whose family also controls Fox News' parent company Fox Corp., spoke during News Corp's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday.
"The current American political debate is profound, whether about education or welfare or economic opportunity," Murdoch said, according to The Washington Post. "It is crucial that conservatives play an active, forceful role in that debate, but that will not happen if President Trump stays focused on the past.
"The past is the past, and the country is now in a contest to define the future."
Trump continues to say that voter fraud in several battleground states led to Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.
The former president recently slammed Fox News for rehiring the person who orchestrated the network's early call of Arizona in the election. The network drew outrage from its viewers when it called the Grand Canyon State for Biden just minutes after polls closed, while still failing to call Florida for Trump despite voting having closed almost 2 hours earlier.
Fox News has seen conservative viewers switch to outlets such as Newsmax in the aftermath of the Trump presidency.
Murdoch and Trump have had a tumultuous professional relationship, the Post said.
After Trump began running for president in 2015, Murdoch tweeted: "When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let alone the whole country?"
However, Murdoch's New York Post was among the first media outlets to endorse Trump in 2016.
The Washington Post reported it was unclear whether Murdoch’s comments to shareholders were directed at Trump or Republican Party members.
Trump has not said whether he plans to run in 2024, though allies have said he’s leaning in that direction.
During the shareholder meeting, Murdoch also criticized Big Tech, which he called "Big Digital," and called for "significant reform." He said companies such as Facebook and Google had been silencing conservative voices.
"The idea falsely promoted by the platforms that algorithms are somehow objective and solely scientific is complete nonsense," Murdoch said, The Washington Post reported. "Algorithms are subjective and they can be manipulated by people to kill competition, damage other people, publishers and businesses."
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