Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
UKMTO says vessel reported a small craft colliding with it, attempting to collide with other vessels in the area
UKMTO says it received a report of an incident 80NM northwest of jebel Ali, UAE
Israeli Foreign Minister says 'Israel' fully endorses Trump plan for Gaza aid: Reuters
Iranian state media: The fourth round of nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington has kicked off in Oman
Senior Israeli intelligence official: Contacts are underway between Syria and "Israel" to retrieve the body of the spy Eli Cohen
Reuters: US and Chinese officials met again in Geneva to resume trade talks
Al Mayadeen's envoy: The process of uranium enrichment is the main obstacle in the talks
Al Mayadeen's envoy to Muscat, quoting a source in the delegation engaging in the nuclear talks: If we see that the other party deviates from the agreed-upon frameworks, we will not continue the talks
Al Mayadeen's envoy to Muscat, quoting a source in the delegation engaging in the nuclear talks: Iran is ready to reassure all parties that its nuclear program will remain peaceful
Araghchi: Iran's position on its right to a nuclear program is firm, but we are ready for greater transparency and hope that the other side's approach will be clear

Fact-checking Trump’s election lies ‘bad for business': Fox News CEO

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 30 Mar 2023 08:58
4 Min Read

Emails that became public Wednesday highlight the panic that engulfed Fox News following the 2020 election when its Trump fans rebelled against the network for accurately calling Biden's victory.

  • x
  • Fox News studios in New York City, Nov. 28, 2018. (AP)
    Fox News studios in New York City, Nov. 28, 2018 (AP)

Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott raised the alarm about the potential financial consequences for the right-wing network if it kept vigorously fact-checking then-President Donald Trump's lies following the 2020 election, as per messages that became public Wednesday.

Scott once sent an email to Meade Cooper, executive vice president of prime-time programming, expressing her displeasure when a reporter of their own, Eric Shawn, made an appearance on Martha MacCallum's show and fact-checked both Donald Trump and a Sean Hannity guest.

“This has to stop now,” Scott stated in a December 2, 2020, message.

“This is bad for business and there is a lack of understanding what is happening in these shows,” she stressed. “The audience is furious and we are just feeding them material. Bad for business.”

NEW: Some of the slides used at the Summary Judgment hearing in the Dominion Voting v. Fox News case were made public today and Hoo boy, some are a doozy!

Here's an email dated 11/13/2020 from Fox Brainroom "Information Specialist" Leonard Balducci: pic.twitter.com/c0PncqyAYR

— Katie S. Phang (@KatiePhang) March 29, 2023

Apparently referring to the fact that MacCallum and Shawn fact-checked a guest who appeared on Hannity's show, a Fox News spokesperson was quoted by CNN as saying that Scott was allegedly not upset about the fact-checking issue but the matter was about "one presenter calling out another."

The relevant email was made public as part of the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News. The email had previously been censored in earlier court files like numerous other records made public on Wednesday. At a hearing last week in Wilmington, Delaware, Dominion showed a PowerPoint that contained the fresh emails.

According to a court order, the voting technology company publicly revealed the entire slideshow on Wednesday. In response, Fox News accused Dominion of cherry-picking emails to promote a self-serving narrative about what the right-wing network did after the 2020 election.

Related News

Trump fires Waltz, replaces him with Rubio in purge amid Signal fiasco

Tammy Bruce appointed State Department spokesperson by Trump

“These documents once again demonstrate Dominion’s continued reliance on cherry-picked quotes without context to generate headlines in order to distract from the facts of this case,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement. “The foundational right to a free press is at stake and we will continue to fiercely advocate for the First Amendment in protecting the role of news organizations to cover the news.”

An important email exchange between Rupert Murdoch and Fox Corporation Board of Directors Member, Paul Ryan: pic.twitter.com/wc1a8aW1Z2

— Katie S. Phang (@KatiePhang) March 29, 2023

In another email by Scott in November 2020, in which then-Fox News correspondent Kristin Fisher was harshly criticized for her supposed “dismissive tone” and "indifference to the audience," the CEO dropped a bombshell, disclosing that the company had “lost 25k subs from FOX NATION,” its streaming service.

The data on the Fox Nation subscriptions had been removed in earlier court papers, as per media reports.

The emails highlight the panic - which some dubbed an "internal war" within the US media giant - that engulfed Fox News following the 2020 election when its fans rebelled against the network for accurately calling President Joe Biden's victory.

In other recently disclosed emails, network producers were heard discussing how airing Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell increased viewership. The unfounded conspiracy claims claiming Dominion had rigged the 2020 election by flipping millions of votes were being promoted at the time by Powell, Giuliani, and broadcaster Lou Dobbs.

“Any day with Rudy and Sidney is guaranteed gold!” the Dobbs producer's email read.

Another Dobbs producer stated in an email that "we really need Rudy or Sidney to keep this alive."

Read next: Fox News subject to defamation law suit over voting machines

  • Fox News
  • 2020 election
  • US President Joe Biden
  • Trump
  • Biden
  • Defamation lawsuit
  • Rupert Murdoch

Most Read

Trump cut off contact with Netanyahu, senior Israeli official says

Trump cut off contact with Netanyahu: Israeli media

  • US & Canada
  • 9 May 2025
Pakistan downs an Indian jet and hits a military base in Kashmir escalation.

Pakistan downs 3 Indian jets, hits military base in Kashmir escalation

  • Politics
  • 7 May 2025
A Yemeni gunman walks past paintings depicting rockets and scenes in solidarity with Gaza, displayed on a roadside fence in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, May 5, 2025 (AP)

Oman brokers US-Yemen ceasefire, Israelis in dark regarding deal

  • Politics
  • 6 May 2025
Saree

Yemeni Armed Forces target key Israeli sites, USS Truman

  • MENA
  • 7 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
Lindsay Hoyle kept nearly 300 gifts as Commons Speaker
Politics

300 gifts later, Speaker Hoyle sparks questions on MPs gifts rules

Echoes of nuclear safety in the age of artificial super intelligence
Technology

AI firms urged to calculate catastrophe odds like Oppenheimer

UK Lawyers for Israel under fire over Gaza obesity remarks
Europe

Advocacy group slammed for calling Gaza starvation a fix for obesity

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., speaks with an officer demanding she be let into the ICE Detention office after the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP)
Politics

Tensions escalate: DHS may arrest Congress members over ICE incident

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS