Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Fox News anchor fires back at guest for calling her ‘far right’

Harris Faulkner clearly took issue with being labelled ‘far right’, firing back that she is actually ‘a journalist!’

Rachel Sharp
Friday 28 April 2023 18:00 BST
Comments
Former Fox News producer says Tucker Carlson made her life 'a living hell'

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner made it clear she was less than impressed when a guest referred to her as “far right” in a segment on the right-wing network this week.

During her show The Faulkner Focus on Thursday morning, Ms Faulker was joined by Democratic politician Desiree Tims and GOP strategist David Avella for a debate about the launch of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.

The exchange became heated when talk turned to who will be the likely Republican candidate to take on the current president in the 2024 White House race.

Ms Tims predicted that the US is headed for a 2020 Trump-Biden rematch – pointing out some polls that place Mr Biden “crushing” Donald Trump.

“There are also polls that came out recently that show President Biden absolutely crushing former President Donald Trump,” she said.

“Look, the reality is we’re gonna have another match-up in 2024 between likely President Biden and President Donald Trump and I think the results are gonna be the same.”

Ms Faulkner interrupted her guest at that point, saying that this is the outcome that Democrats want.

“I know you want it to be him [Mr Trump] and I believe you believe that it will be,” she said.

Ms Tims responded by saying that “you guys on the far right” are instead hoping for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the Republican nominee.

“I know you guys on the far right really want Ron DeSantis to be the nominee but I don’t think he has the charisma or personality to beat out the entertainer-in-chief,” she said.

Ms Faulkner clearly took issue with being labelled “far right”, firing back that she is actually “a journalist”.

“I don’t know who you are talking to in terms of ‘you guys,’ I know that that wasn’t meant for me,” she said, speaking over Ms Tims.

“I’m a journalist!”

Ms Tims appeared to ignore the anchor’s response, prompting Ms Faulkner to reiterate what she said during a lull in the discussion.

“So, and hopefully, yeah, OK, I’m sure you heard what I said,” she said.

Fox News anchor clashes with guest over being called ‘far right’
Fox News anchor clashes with guest over being called ‘far right’ (Fox News)

The altercation comes amid a turbulent time for Fox News, as the network reached a $787m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems and fired its top TV personality Tucker Carlson.

Carlson was fired on Monday following what is said to have been a direct order from Rupert Murdoch.

Fox News has still offered no explanation for the sudden exit of one of its most-watched host but several explanations have cropped up in reports.

His ousting came just days after the network agreed to pay $787m to Dominion over election lies the software company claimed were pushed on Carlson’s and other personality’s shows.

While the payout avoided a trial, it was too late to prevent embarrassment from court filings including messages where Carlson complained about Fox News exceutives.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in