1. 400-Pound Woman on Welfare
At least Murdoch reads his own papers, right? Murdoch picked this story up from a two-day old copy of the New York Post, one of News Corp.’s holdings, about a 400-pound woman who fell through a New York City sidewalk. The problem? According the article, the woman is a social worker and there is no mention of her being on welfare or food stamps. Murdoch semi-apologized, tweeting later that he “did not mean to be unsympathetic to 400 lb lady.” That didn’t seem to be the problem, but thanks for the clarification, Rupert.
2. Israel
This Murdoch gem was tweeted Nov. 17 as Israel clashed with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
3. Celebrities
Murdoch later tweeted that he wasn’t referring to “any particular people” when he fired off this message in mid-October. Singer Charlotte Church, actor Hugh Grant, and television personality Jacqui Hames were the three celebrities who had visited with British Prime Minister David Cameron to talk about reforming media laws.
4. Scientology
There’s nothing quite like watching one of the world’s most openly disliked media figures weigh in on a celebrity scandal. Murdoch seemingly could not contain himself when news broke this summer that Katie Holmes had filed for divorce from Tom Cruise. His cribbed-from-Wikipedia-style tweets about Scientology were particularly noninstructive.
5. Egypt
This tweet was another Murdoch contribution as the situation in Gaza worsened. He was seemingly referring to the government put in place after dictator Hosni Mubarak was ousted during the Arab Spring, a move the White House supported.
6. Mitt Romney
Murdoch used his Twitter account as a platform to criticize Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney during his 2012 campaign for president.
7. Rick Santorum
Rupert posted this tweet favorable to Republican candidate Rick Santorum in January. Precisely how he knew that Santorum was on all Iowans’ minds, or why he could not resist sending the tweet, Murdoch did not divulge.
8. Hopeful
One of his earliest, Murdoch rang in the new year with this message.