News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is downplaying the fund-raiser he'll be hosting for Sen. Hillary Clinton in July, saying it won't raise that much money for the liberal Democrat.
"It’s no big deal," he told Human Events on Wednesday. "It’s not a million-dollar raising [event]. It’s got nothing to do with anything other than her Senate re-election.”
The top media mogul went on to describe the $1,000 a-plate gathering as offering "pretty modest support," adding that he'll be "giving the opportunity to people in our office who want to join us at a breakfast."
"We think that she’s been effective on state issues and local issues here in a New York," he explained.
Story Continues Below
Though conservatives have been buzzing all week about the "Rupert-Hillary" alliance, it's not the first time the right-leaning press baron has reached across the political aisle.
In Sept. 2000, Murdoch co-hosted a fund-raiser for then Vice President Al Gore at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. The month before, he helped to defray some of the costs for the Democratic National Convention, which was held at a venue owned by Murdoch and several partners.
Teaching a journalism at Columbia University after his election defeat, Gore invited just three guest lecturers to his class: CBS "Late Show" host David Letterman, then-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and Rupert Murdoch.