Executive Chairman of News Corp and Chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox Rupert Murdoch arrives on the red carpet during the second annual Breakthrough Prize Awards at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California November 9, 2014.
Executive Chairman of News Corp and Chairman and CEO of 21st Century Fox Rupert Murdoch arrives on the red carpet during the second annual Breakthrough Prize Awards at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California November 9, 2014. Reuters/Stephen Lam

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has apologised for his tweet on Wednesday that said Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson should be preferred over U.S. President Barack Obama when it comes to “a real black president.”

The 84-year-old News Corporation founder compared retired African-American neurosurgeon Carson and Obama, and said the former would be a better representative. “Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide? And much else, ” Murdoch’s tweet read.

Murdoch's tweet praised Carson and his wife Candy soon after promoting Carson’s appearance on his own Fox News Channel’s “The Kelly File.” The tweet was then followed by 14,000 retweets and mentioned 1,200 times as a wave of anger spread across the Internet. Among the public outrage, “The Simpsons” voice actor Harry Shearer asked for an explanation from Murdoch on what he meant.

Seeing the increasing negative response from the public, Murdoch tweeted again to apologise and explain his earlier tweet. “Apologies! No offence meant. Personally find both men charming,” the media magnate’s follow-up tweet read.

Carson defended Murdoch and told CNN, “ I know Rupert Murdoch, he's not a racist by any stretch of the imagination. He's just expressing his opinion. I think it's much ado about nothing. ”

In September, Carson hit the news due to his controversial statement, which said that a Muslim candidate should not participate in presidential election as Islam doesn’t go well with the U.S. constitution.

"Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life and what you do as a public official, and that's inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution," Carson had told in the NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

BBC’s Nick Bryant wrote in New York magazine in June, commenting on Obama's reserved attitude in dealing with racial issues, which he said left people to find connections between his president-ship and racial discrimination.

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