Rupert’s contempt Murdoch’s actions against former President Trump following the 2020 election are again reflected in evidence presented in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News.
“Trump is adamant that the election was stolen and that persuading 25% of Americans is a huge disservice to the country,” Murdoch wrote to Fox News Media Chief Executive Susanne Scott as evidence. that hasn’t been fixed recently “Quite a crime. It is inevitable to explode on January 6th.”
Fox Corp. Executive Chairman Murdoch admitted in his testimony late last year that he had told Scott to stop putting Trump on the network.
The ban has since ended, and Trump, who leads in most polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, gave an interview to Fox News host Sean Hannity in which: Working on several parts this week.
Murdoch’s comments appear in a slide set of scores by Dominion Voting Systems that were made public this week in a lawsuit against Fox. The presentation included a number of statements and communications by executives at Fox News and its parent company that were previously edited.
Voting machine maker Dominion claims Fox News deliberately ran Trump’s false allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 election to silence viewers, who were fleeing the network angrily calling Arizona “a scammer.” Joe Biden, the candidate for the election at the time
A guest on Fox News made false claims about owning Dominion and said their machine manipulated the vote in favor of Biden. Fox News maintains that the allegations are newsworthy and that reporting is protected. By the 1st Amendment
“These documents demonstrate once again that Dominion continues to believe in carefully selected statements without context in headlines to distract attention from the facts of this case,” Fox News representatives said in a statement.
Evidence and testimony filed in this case which is expected to go to trial in mid-April It revealed deep discontent among executives, producers and hosts over Trump’s claims. while expressing concern that condemning them outright would upset viewers.
The evidence revealed in the set of slides also includes documents from the “brain room,” a research arm within Fox News that alerts executives and producers that there is no evidence of voter fraud. The unit made it clear that claims by Trump’s attorneys about Dominion’s machine flipping votes from Trump to Biden were untrue.
Trump’s camp said Dominion deleted 2.7 million Trump votes nationwide. and changed Trump’s vote to Biden’s vote in several key states.
“Election officials from both political parties have publicly stated that the elections have gone well. and international observers confirmed that there were no abnormalities,” according to a note from the research group.
David Clark, Fox News’ senior vice president of weekend programming and news, agreed with his testimony that the brainroom said Dominion’s allegations were false and should not be pursued.
But Trump’s legal team, which includes Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, who expanded the claims without evidence, continued to appear on Fox News and Fox Business Network after fact-checking.
On Nov. 30, 2021, a message from Fox News producer Alexander Hooper says, “Every day with Rudy and Sidney is guaranteed gold,” referring to Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs getting it when a lawyer is booked as a guest.
Even Tucker Carlson, the strictest prime-time host on Fox News, expressed disdain for Powell and her inability to back up her claims. On November 17, 2020, a message to Powell Carlson told her that it was It said it was “reckless and cruel” to present an allegation without clear evidence.
“You keep telling our audience that millions of votes are manipulated by software,” Carlson wrote. “I hope you can prove it soon. Unless you have conclusive evidence that it is fraudulent at that level. It is cruel and reckless to continue to say.”
On November 21, 2020, Carlson wrote to Trump’s attorney, Jenna Ellis. and told her it was The “shocking negligence” continues to accuse Dominion of using software to manipulate votes without providing evidence.
In a message to an unknown recipient, Carlson, who expressed doubts about his program, Powell said, “Unfortunately we have to pretend that this lawsuit is in no way viable.”
Broadcaster Maria Bartiromo, who had Sidney and Giuliani as guests on her “Sunday Morning Futures” three times after the election, called for Biden to be told by leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Minorities in the House at the time on November 6, 2020, that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. And the Democratic victory was fair.
