False claim media CEOs donated to Trump campaign | Fact check

The claim: Heads of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC are Trump donors

A July 7 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows a graphic that includes an image of former President Donald Trump and makes a claim about supposed "anti-Biden" media coverage.

“The media's anti-Biden noise isn't an accident,” reads text in the graphic, which goes on to claim the CEOs of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC and the New York Times are all Trump donors. The post also states that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post and business magnate Rupert Murdoch owns The Wall Street Journal.

The post was shared more than 200 times in six days. The same claim was shared in other posts, all using a screenshot of the same since-deleted post by Occupy Democrats that cited a post on X as its source.

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Our rating: False

There are no records that any of the executives referred to in the post donated directly to Trump’s presidential campaigns.

Campaign finance reports show no Trump donations

President Joe Biden has received an uptick in negative news coverage following his widely panned June 27 debate performance. But there is no evidence to suggest this coverage is fueled by biased media executives.

Candidates for federal office must file regular reports listing donors and contribution amounts, providing transparency in direct campaign contributions. OpenSecrets, a self-described “research and government transparency group tracking money in politics,” maintains a database of donations that is searchable by the public.

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The database pulls up contributions for anyone with a given name, but it includes information on employers so it is possible to use known employment history to determine if a news or network executive or owner is the person who made a donation. Notably, some of the companies listed in the post do not have CEOs, contrary to the post's description. But the available evidence shows that top executives at the media outlets mentioned in the post have not donated to Trump's presidential campaign.

Here is what OpenSecrets shows about donations from top executives at those companies:

• Robert Iger, CEO of ABC's parent company Walt Disney Co., made several donations to Democrats but has no listed Trump donations.

• ABC Entertainment President Craig Erwich, who oversees the ABC network, has no listed Trump donations but previously donated to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.

• Debra OConnell, who oversees ABC’s news operation, had no reported donations to presidential candidates.

• Cesar Conde, who leads NBC News and MSNBC as chairman of the NBC Universal News Group, has no listed Trump donations.

• Comcast (parent company of NBC) CEO Brian Roberts has no listed Trump donations.

• Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Universal Media Group, has no listed Trump donations.

• CBS CEO George Cheeks has no listed Trump donations.

• CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon has no listed Trump donations and donated to Biden's campaign in 2020.

• New York Times CEO Meredith Kopit Levien has no listed Trump donations.

• Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has given to both Democrats and Republicans but has no listed donations directly to Trump.

• Rupert Murdoch is not the owner of the Wall Street Journal, but his family owns about 40% of its parent company, News Corp. While he has donated heavily to Republican causes, he has no listed donations directly to Trump.

• Lachlan Murdoch, who is Rupert's son and the executive chairman of News Corp, likewise has no listed Trump donations.

• CNN CEO Mark Thompson has no listed Trump donations. He only “recently became a US citizen,” according to the New York Times, and as a foreign national, he could not have legally donated.

The Facebook post provides no evidence that any executives from any of the media outlets mentioned in the post donated to Trump or his campaign. The X user who first posted this claim couldn't be reached.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook users sharing the claim for comment but did not receive a response. Occupy Democrats also did not immediately respond to an inquiry.

Snopes also debunked this claim.

Our fact-check sources:

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Rupert Murdoch

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Lachlan Murdoch

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Meredith Kopit

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Jeffrey Bezos

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Jeff Bezos

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, George Cheeks

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Craig Erwich

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Brian Roberts

• Open Secrets, accessed July 16, Wendy McMahon

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Mark Lazarus

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Bob Iger

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Debra OConnell

• OpenSecrets, accessed July 11, Mark Thompson

• New York Times, June 24, In This Debate, CNN Is the Decider

• Federal Election Commission, accessed July 11, Who can and can't contribute

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, these media CEOs did not donate to Trump campaign | Fact check