Rick Santorum wins Rupert Murdoch endorsement

Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire media mogul who owns News Corporation, signaled his support for GOP candidate Rick Santorum in a tweet Monday night.

Murdoch, called the socially conservative Santorum the “only candidate with genuine big vision for country.”

Can't resist this tweet, but all Iowans think about Rick Santorum.Only candidate with genuine big vision for country.

— Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) January 3, 2012

Murdoch’s News Corporation owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and other major media companies. He made headlines in 2011 when he testified before Britain’s Parliament about a phone-hacking scandal embroiling News Corp.’s paper News of the World.

Murdoch is new to the social media site Twitter. He began tweeting on Saturday using the handle @rupertmurdoch.

Santorum has been mentioned on Twitter nearly 50,000 times in the past week, according to The Washington Post’s social media measuring tool, @mentionmachine.