The revelation that Fox News employees — from hosts to executives and to chairman Rupert Murdoch — knowingly parroted false narratives that the 2020 election was “stolen” from then-President Donald Trump has created questions on whether the network can defend itself in a lawsuit brought forth by Dominion Voting Systems.
CNN media analyst and Axios reporter Sara Fischer claims that prominent Fox News executives believe — behind the scenes — that the network will ultimately lose its case with the election machine company.
While appearing on CNN This Morning, Fischer was asked what the defense from Fox News would be, after the network claimed it never endorsed any of the falsehoods peddled by Trump allies. However, Murdoch admitted in his deposition that certain hosts — namely Jeanine Pirro, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and Sean Hannity — did endorse the claims.
“I have sources inside Fox in the C-Suite level; they tell you they think it is likely that they will lose this case, and that’s because of this discrepancy,” Fischer said. “They might say there was newsworthiness in covering what Donald Trump was saying, but there is a clear difference in newsworthiness versus peddling and having people peddling those lies on your show.”
“But Sara, you are hearing from sources,” CNN This Morning co-host Kaitlan Collins said, “they think they are going to lose this?”
“I am hearing that. And Rupert Murdoch’s deposition, which was unsealed yesterday, kind of concedes that,” argued Fischer. “When you look at what Fox’s Chief Policy Officer, and legal officer, said yesterday, the plaintiff asked, and the lawyers asked ‘Do you think Fox had a responsibility to tell the truth here?’ and he said ‘yes.’
“I mean, you have your own executives admitting that there was a discrepancy between what the hosts were saying, what they knew, and what was being aired, and what the responsibility was. I don’t see how any person in their right mind could look at this and say that this is going to be easy for Fox to win.”
A statement from Fox News, however, contends that the lawsuit brought against the network by Dominion Voting Systems “has always been more about what will generate headlines than what can withstand legal and factual scrutiny.”
