James Murdoch rebukes Donald Trump over white supremacists

James Murdoch has donated $1m to an anti-Trump organisation in response to the President’s reaction to white supremacists.

James Murdoch says “standing up to Nazis is essential’’.

Media mogul James Murdoch has delivered a stinging rebuke to US president Donald Trump by donating US$1 million (A$1.27 million) to an outspoken anti-Trump organisation and attacking the white supremacist protesters in Virginia.

In a private letter to friends which quickly leaked online, the chief executive of 21st Century Fox said that “vigilance against hate and bigotry is an eternal obligation” and said he was concerned by the response of the president, a contrast to 21st Century Fox’s cable channel Fox News, which is strongly pro-Trump. 21st Century Fox is the sister company to News Corp, publisher of The Australian.

“I can’t even believe I have to write this: standing up to Nazis is essential; there are no good Nazis. Or Klansmen, or terrorists. Democrats, Republicans, and others must all agree on this, and it compromises nothing for them to do so,” Mr Murdoch wrote.

Last weekend violence in Charlottesville Virginia led to the death of Heather Heyer, 32, when a car driven by a suspected white nationalist crashed into anti-racist demonstrators. President Trump drew condemnation from both sides of politics by initially blaming “many sides” for the violence.

Mr Murdoch headed his letter: “Personal note from James Murdoch re: ADL” and he signed the letter with his initials JRM. In it he pledged to donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League, along with his wife Kathryn, and urged friends to do the same.

“I’m writing to you in a personal capacity, as a concerned citizen and a father. It has not been my habit to widely offer running commentary on current affairs, nor to presume to weigh in on the events of a given day save those that might be of particular or specific concern to 21CF and my colleagues,” Mr Murdoch wrote.

“But what we watched this last week in Charlottesville and the reaction to it by the President of the United States concern all of us as Americans and free people.

“These events remind us all why vigilance against hate and bigotry is an eternal obligation — a necessary discipline for the preservation of our way of life and our ideals. The presence of hate in our society was appallingly laid bare as we watched swastikas brandished on the streets of Charlottesville and acts of brutal terrorism and violence perpetrated by a racist mob.”

Mr Murdoch said he was proud of the storytelling and powerful art that his company had produced, including the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave and He Named Me Malala.