Messages sent among Fox News hosts that were released as part of the lawsuit against the network filed by Dominion Voting Systems provide a window into what they privately thought about claims of fraud being made after the 2020 presidential election.
Those private musings were often at odds with what the hosts said on their broadcasts.
Hosts including Tucker Carlson expressed grave doubts on the unfounded narrative about widespread voter fraud, which was promoted by then-President Donald J. Trump and a coalition of lawyers, lawmakers and influencers, though they produced no evidence to support their assertions.
Two days after the election, Mr. Carlson’s producer, Alex Pfeiffer, said that voices on the right were “reckless demagogues,” according to a text message. Mr. Carlson replied that his show was “not going to follow them.”
But the same day, on “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Mr. Carlson expressed some doubts about the voter fraud assertions before insisting that at least some of the claims were “credible.”
On Nov. 7, 2020, Mr. Carlson privately told Mr. Pfeiffer that claims about manipulated software were “absurd.” Mr. Pfeiffer replied later that there was not enough evidence of fraud to swing the election. But during his broadcast on Nov. 9, Mr. Carlson devoted time to various theories, suggesting there could be merit to claims about software manipulation. “We don’t know, we have to find out,” he said.
Mr. Carlson and other hosts also privately criticized Sidney Powell, a lawyer and conspiracy theorist who was gaining traction among the far right for her involvement in several lawsuits aimed at challenging the election results. Mr. Carlson called her claims “shockingly reckless,” while Laura Ingraham, who is the host of a 10 p.m. show, and Raj Shah, a senior vice president at the Fox Corporation, the network’s corporate parent, were equally incredulous.
Lou Dobbs and Maria Bartiromo, two hosts on Fox Business, a sister channel to Fox News that is also part of Dominion’s lawsuit, repeatedly invited Ms. Powell onto their shows as an expert on voter fraud claims.
John Fawcett, a producer on Mr. Dobbs’s show, said he believed Ms. Powell was “doing LSD and cocaine and heroin and shrooms” in one message. But when Ms. Powell appeared on Mr. Dobbs’s show days later, she was hailed as a “great American” and “one of the country’s leading appellate attorneys.”
Mr. Fawcett also privately told Mr. Dobbs that Mr. Trump’s legal team had disavowed her. Mr. Dobbs replied that he didn’t know what Ms. Powell was “thinking or doing, Or why!”
But over the next several days, Ms. Powell was invited back on the show by Mr. Dobbs, who echoed her claims that “electoral fraud” was perpetrated by electronic voting machines, “prominently Dominion.”
The New York Times
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