WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: Fox News host Tucker Carlson discusses 'Populism and the Right' during the National Review Institute's Ideas Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Image: Getty)
Fox News hosts knowingly lied about election fraud in the weeks following the 2020 election, according to court filings made public from Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox Corporation.
On air, hosts entertained President Donald Trump‘s conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election, claiming that fraud on a massive scale explained Joe Biden‘s victory.
The fraud was caused in part by Dominion’s voting machines, they claimed.
“The Dominion software system has been tagged as one allegedly capable of flipping votes,” said anchor Jeanine Pirro.
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Host Tucker Carlson said, “How, for example, did senile hermit Joe Biden get 15 million more votes than his former boss, rock star crowd surfer for Barack Obama?”
“Tonight, every American should be angry. You should be outraged. You should be worried. You should be concerned at what has happened in the election,” said anchor Sean Hannity.
Off air, however, Fox insiders had a much more critical understanding of Trump and his lawyers’ false claims.
“[Trump lawyer] Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It’s insane,” wrote Carlson in a private text message to host Laura Ingraham.
“Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her…” Ingraham responded.
Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox Corporation, privately suggested that the conspiracy theory his network was entertaining was “really crazy stuff.”
Dominion’s case was made stronger by texts about Jacqui Heinrich, a Fox reporter, who correctly fact-checked a Trump tweet.
In reference to the tweet, Dominion’s filings found text messages between Carlson and Hannity where Carlson expressed deep discontent over Heinrich’s reporting.
“Please get her fired. Seriously… What the f—? I’m actually shocked… It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.”
Fox is now facing a defamation case for its systemic lying surrounding the election. Dominion is claiming that its reputation has been permanently ruined, and is seeking an astounding $1.6 billion in damages from Fox.
Fox’s attorneys argue that the lawsuit is an attack on free speech and threatens to dissuade journalists in the future from reporting on information that could be unfavorable to specific companies such as Dominion.
“There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners,” Fox News said in a statement.
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