In Monday’s “Rising” episode, political commentator and journalist Robby Soave raised concerns over Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Soave emphasized the potential chilling effect the lawsuit may have on Fox News, advocating for the freedom of journalists to occasionally make mistakes and pursue ideas that may not yield results.
Amidst claims of election rigging against former President Trump, Dominion Voting Systems, a private manufacturer of voting machines, was accused of conspiring with Democrats to manipulate the election. Dominion responded by filing multiple defamation lawsuits in 2021, alleging that these baseless claims caused significant harm to the company.
“Dominion has every right to set the record straight. And I understand, given all the lies spread by Trump and Powell and Giuliani, why the company would want to hold those people accountable,” said Soave. “But Dominion isn’t just suing those people. It’s also suing Fox News, the media company that interviewed Powell, Giuliani, and others, inviting them on their programs to make their arguments.”
According to Soave, Fox News provided a platform for former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and Sidney Powell to express their views. Therefore, it is not these individuals who are being sued by Dominion but the media company that gave them the opportunity to be interviewed.
“Now, were some Fox hosts too credulous of the stolen election claims, especially Lou Dobbs, whose show was canceled, and he was effectively fired? Sure,” Soave said. “Would it have served them and their audience well to push back more aggressively? Yes, although I would note that Tucker Carlson, after giving Sidney Powell every opportunity to present her case, totally eviscerated her evidence-free claims.”
Soave pointed out a segment on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in which Tucker Carlson criticized Sidney Powell, a pro-Trump lawyer, for continuously making false allegations about election fraud and declining to appear on his show.
“We would have given her the whole hour. We would have given her the entire week, actually, and listened quietly the whole time at rapt attention,” Carlson said at the time. “That’s a big story. But she never sent us any evidence, despite a lot of requests, polite requests, not a page. When we kept pressing, she got angry and told us to stop contacting her,” said Carlson. “When we checked with others around the Trump campaign, people in positions of authority, they told us Powell was never given them any evidence either, nor did she provide any today at the press conference.”
“And this case threatens to upset the balance that allows people to say provocative questioning, important, challenging things, not necessarily even because of the details here, but because this pushes the envelope so that the next time it’s a little harder to speak and to dissent and to discuss. That’s what I’m worried will happen if there’s a massive verdict in Dominion’s favor, even though I totally agree that they were maligned by the individuals I’ve mentioned,” added Soave.
