Fox News cast doubt on election 800 times in two weeks after it called result
‘Fox News played a large part in fuelling lie’ that election was stolen from Trump, says damning report
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Your support makes all the difference.In the weeks after Fox News called the election for Joe Biden, the news network continued to cast doubt on the electoral process in a way that significantly amplified Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated fraud claims, according to a new report.
The Media Matters NGO tracked the claims aired on the network in the two weeks after Fox called the election for Mr Biden, and found that there were at least 774 instances when the channel questioned the legitimacy of the result in this period.
The claim that the election was stolen from Mr Trump - and that his supporters should therefore “stop the steal” - formed the basis for the deadly Capitol riots on 6 January, Media Matters said in a report, and “Fox News played a large part in fuelling that lie”.
“The network’s most prominent figures relentlessly attempted to subvert democracy by fueling conspiracy theories and spreading misinformation, rhetoric for which the network has refused to hold them accountable,” said the report.
In the days before the riots, Fox News host Lou Dobbs could be seen saying that it may be “criminal” for Republicans in Congress to uphold Mr Biden’s electoral victory, saying they were imparting a message to their constituents that they don’t really care if the elections were stolen.
On 3 January, three days before the riot, Fox News host Mark Levin could be seen telling his viewers that: "If we don't fight on 6 January on the floor of the Senate and the House — and that is the joint meeting of Congress on these electors — then we are done."
An analysis by NPR showed that these comments from leading Fox News figures had played a role in stoking the fury of the protesters who descended on the country’s capital to participate in the “Stop the Steal” rally which later turned into a riot. Among those influenced was Ashli Babbitt, the US Air Force veteran who was shot and killed while attempting to breach the Capitol.
NPR, on examining her social media, found that she was “significantly influenced by Fox News hosts, contributors and frequent guests.”
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