The usually grim-faced media mogul practically swooned in his seat. Moments after Jeb Bush delivered what many in the audience described as an unremarkable talk at a conference in Washington, Rupert Murdoch turned to his seatmate, Valerie Jarrett, the White House adviser, to gush over its content and tone.

Murdoch was pleased that Bush, the former governor of Florida, had listed the economic benefits of overhauling the nation’s immigration system, confiding in Jarrett that Bush, a likely Republican presidential candidate, had said all the right things on the fraught issue, according to three people with firsthand knowledge of the conversation.

It was the kind of warm embrace, from the powerful and widely courted owner of The Wall Street Journal and Fox News Channel, that Murdoch denied Mitt Romney during his 2012 bid for the White House — and one that Murdoch is already signaling he will deprive Romney of if he runs in 2016.

In the delicate and unseen campaign underway for Murdoch’s affections in the next presidential campaign, this much is clear: Romney is out of the running, a reality that has pained and angered his allies.

Presidential politics is rife with grudges and grievances, but it is hard to recall a display of animus as unsubtle as that which Murdoch and corners of his media empire have unleashed on Romney in the past few weeks as he has tried to build support for a third presidential run.

Murdoch’s most prominent American newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, has called Romney’s previous run a “calamity.” Murdoch has dismissed Romney as a “terrible candidate.” And, in a final indignity, Murdoch has heaped praise on Romney’s potential rivals, no matter how long a shot they have at the Republican nomination. (“Watch Ben Carson,” Murdoch tweeted a few days ago, labeling Carson, a conservative physician and political neophyte, a “principled brave achiever.”)

The disfavor that Murdoch has showered upon Romney could have a genuine impact on the early stages of the Republican primary, as Romney, the party’s nominee in 2012, weighs whether or not to push ahead with a campaign, a decision he is expected to make in the next few weeks.

For Romney and those around him, the memory of Murdoch’s aversion in 2012, and its expression in forums like The Journal, still stings.

“It was a concern during the campaign, one that had to be actively managed,” said Kevin Madden, a senior adviser to Romney’s campaign in 2012.

He acknowledged that The Journal’s editorial page, a battering ram against Romney then and now, “does have an impact in shaping opinions of many within the party.”

A few of Romney’s closest friends have lost their patience with Murdoch.

Ron Kaufman, a longtime confidant and adviser, said that Murdoch “has proven tone deaf” when it comes to politics and bemoaned what he said were the media executive’s ill-informed outbursts.

“It’s like trying to make sense of what Trump does sometimes,” Kaufman said.

“Vacuous” is how Murdoch has privately described Romney, said a person close to the executive who, wanting to preserve his relationship with him, would not discuss private conversations for attribution. That remark is a blunter version of those Murdoch has made in public in the past month or so.

Murdoch takes special umbrage at Romney’s handling of immigration in 2012, when the candidate, as an alternative to forced deportation, called for “self-deportation,” in which people in the United States illegally would voluntarily go back to their home countries and apply to emigrate legally.

During a closed-door meeting at the Union League Club in New York that year, Murdoch called the position foolhardy and asked Romney to back away from it. Romney, according to two attendees, replied that he had already softened his language on immigration and that if he abandoned his position he would look like a flip-flopper, a label he loathed. Murdoch was baffled and dismayed, the attendees said.

A spokesman for Romney declined to comment.

Asked two weeks ago what he thought of Romney’s consideration of another candidacy, Murdoch responded: “He had his chance. He mishandled it, you know?”

The rejection has a personal dimension for Romney, a former Massachusetts governor whose relationship with The Journal dates back decades. The newspaper assiduously chronicled the career of his father, George Romney, a prominent automobile executive. And Romney is a devoted Journal reader who has repeatedly sought to reach its readers through his own opinion articles.

Those close to Romney said he had all but given up on trying to win over Murdoch. Several of them spoke of the situation as frustrating and inexplicable for him. Romney, they point out, has nothing negative to say about Murdoch.

“He doesn’t hold it against him,” Kaufman said.

But these people insist that Murdoch’s harsh assessment is neither an obstacle nor a deterrent as Romney decides whether to pursue another White House campaign.

About a half-dozen mainstream Republican candidates are angling for Murdoch’s blessing, not to mention Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has developed her own growing rapport with him.

Murdoch seems eager to play a role in the political process.

“I am deeply interested in the future of our country, and I enjoy meeting with potential candidates of both parties,” Murdoch said by email, responding to an inquiry about his political activity. “I am keen to hear their views, whether it’s on tax reform, immigration or defense and foreign policy.”

Murdoch remains fond of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who played his own role in the billionaire’s plans to foil Romney. In 2011, Murdoch joined a group of wealthy and influential Republican leaders who encouraged Christie to enter the presidential race, convinced he was a more exciting alternative to Romney, and with broader appeal.

Last May, Murdoch expressed doubts about the New Jersey governor, saying he expected more damaging stories to emerge about Christie’s aides in the aftermath of the closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge. Still, the two men remain in contact, speaking by phone about once every month or two, according to advisers close to both.

Murdoch remains intrigued by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, privately extolling his appeal to younger voters and his plans for a flat tax. The two meet often in New York and Washington. But Murdoch worries that Paul may face an uphill battle in a general election, said a person who has spoken with Murdoch.

Then there is Bush, who calls The Journal his “paper of record.” The fact that he sat between Murdoch and Jarrett at the conference hosted by The Journal in Washington was no accident: Murdoch requested it. Their ties have deepened over the years. Bush has collaborated frequently on education issues with Murdoch’s close friend and adviser Joel I. Klein, the former New York City schools chancellor who now leads Murdoch’s education business, Amplify.

Murdoch, 83, is executive chairman of News Corp., which owns The Journal, The New York Post and HarperCollins, among other assets, and is chief executive of 21st Century Fox, the parent company of film and television assets including Fox News and the Fox broadcasting network.

With his characteristic candor and deep, Australian-accented mumble, Murdoch is making known his high regard for Bush these days.

“I like Jeb Bush very much,” Murdoch said in New York two weeks ago. “He’s moving very cleverly, very well,” he added.

© 2015 The New York Times Company