Rupert Murdoch has cooked up a storm on social media by implying that President Barack Obama is not a "real black president." In a tweet praising presidential hopeful Ben Carson, Murdoch, the chairman of News Corp., which owns Fox, wrote, "Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black president who can properly address the racial divide? And much else," reports NBC News.
Over the past few weeks, Murdoch has been expressing support for Carson. "Ben Carson polling. So character DOES count. His life story should make every American optimistic," tweeted Murdoch on Aug. 30, according to The Washington Post.
Carson has tried to stay away from racial issues and has criticized the "Black Lives Matter" campaign, saying that it causes strife, reports The Guardian.
"I was asked by an NPR reporter once why don't I talk about race that often. I said: 'It's because I'm a neurosurgeon.' Carson had said, according to The Guardian, explaining his response to Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly during the first Republican presidential debate. "And she thought that was a strange response. I said: 'You see, when I take someone to the operating room, I'm actually operating on the thing that makes them who they are. The skin doesn't make them who they are. The hair doesn't make them who they are. And it's time for us to move beyond that because our strength as a nation comes in our unity.'"
But instead of increasing support for Carson through his tweets, Murdoch faced a backlash of criticism over social media platforms with "The Simpsons" star Harry Shearer asking Murdoch to explain himself.