Fox News has been one of the biggest media allies of President Donald Trump in the last four years. And so, viewers and observers were shocked when the network started calling a Biden win in states like Arizona and Michigan where the race is very tight, and a winner is hard to predict, Daily Beast reports.
As of Wednesday, when Fox News made its call, other major news outlets toed the path of caution and were yet to give either candidate the nod.
The slow tilt towards Joe Biden commenced on Tuesday when Fox News predicted that Biden had clinched Arizona, a required state for Trump to revive his hopes of securing a second term.
However, while the network must have given the Grand Canyon state to Biden, there were still some Pro-Trump anchors on the network who refused to accept defeat just yet. Pro-Trump personalities like Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters openly questioned their network’s prediction and refused to back down. Watters agreed with the Trump campaign team, who believed Arizona is still within reach of Trump.
Martha MacCallum was yet another pro-Trump personality in the network who disagreed with her network’s forecast. She was engaged in a fierce debate with Fox News Decision Desk’s director Arnon Mishkin over the network’s ill-timed projection of a Biden win, NY Times states.
As expected, Trump campaign spokesman berated the network’s projection, questioning the justification of making such a decision when both candidates were engaged in a neck and neck race too close to call.
Bill Hemmer and Tucker Carlson were among the firm believers in the ability of Trump to rise from the threshold of defeat and pull a surprising win. They repeated the campaign’s claims that although Trump faces an uphill task, he had the chance to win Arizona and other key states.
However, it was during Sean Hannity’s show that a barrage of criticism would pour in for the network. Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, a key Trump ally, sharply criticized the network for his late run of predictions. He asked Fox News to rescind its call immediately. Hannity agreed with him.
More and more criticisms continue to pour in for the network as its chief White House correspondent John Roberts dismissed his network’s claims of an Arizona win for Biden. He predicted that Trump would clinch Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
The rave of criticism pouring in for Fox News echoes the same concern that the Trump team had towards the network as elections drew nearer. The New York Times reported that on Tuesday night, Trump’s advisor and son-in-law put a call across to Fox Mogul Rupert Murdoch to complain about the unseemly attitude of his network.
President Trump took a shot at the network on Tuesday morning on “Fox and Friends” when he said the network had changed a lot. He concluded that the most significant difference between his surprising win four years ago and his current falter was Fox.
Fox News has been one media platform playing host to many of the president’s biggest supporters in the media in the last four years, including the president’s own unofficial political adviser Sean Hannity. The media outlet had been a critical ally in Trump’s rise to political power. And now, it seems like the relationship is coming to an end.
Source: thedailybeast.com
