The messages also highlight Fox News’s unusual relationship with its audience, which involves the conservative media’s most trusted figures consciously lying to their viewers. That violence was but the last desperate effort of a months-long campaign to invalidate the election results by pressuring election officials, state legislators, the Supreme Court, and ultimately former Vice President Mike Pence to use their power to install Trump as president against the will of the electorate. The texts provide a concrete record of what much of the right-wing media, and Fox News in particular, have since tried to obscure: A violent mob of Trump supporters, incited by falsehoods promoted by right-wing outlets and Trump himself about the election being stolen, sought to overturn the results by force. If the rally had been peaceful, if the mob had not been full of Trump supporters, if this were an inside job, then appealing to Trump to stop it would not have made sense. Destroying everything you have accomplished.” The prime-time host Sean Hannity urged Meadows to get Trump to “ask people to leave the Capitol.” Subsequently, all three hosts downplayed Trump’s responsibility for what happened, or sought to cast blame on others, knowingly misleading their viewers. He is destroying his legacy.” The morning-show host Brian Kilmeade implored Meadows: “Please, get him on TV. As the mob ransacked the building, the Fox host Laura Ingraham told Meadows, “The president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home,” and warned that “this is hurting all of us. Trump said to his supporters at the rally that day, “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” and told them to march on the Capitol in the hopes of preventing Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory. The texts show that the network’s stars, contrary to the deliberate obfuscation campaign they have since offered, were well aware of who was responsible for the attack on the Capitol, and who could have prevented it. In fact, they understood exactly what was happening and who was responsible.Īs part of its investigation into the Capitol riot, Congress has released a series of text messages between then–White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Fox News personalities, exchanged on January 6. Or at least that’s what these Fox News personalities have said publicly. In a text, Hannity called Powell a "F'ing lunatic.According to right-wing media figures, the January 6 sacking of the Capitol that disrupted the counting of the 2020 electoral votes was “ a false-flag operation.” It was just “politicians” having their “jobs disrupted for two hours.” It was “ mostly peaceful.” It was a “ setup,” or perhaps it was the work of “ antifa,” but those who were arrested and prosecuted are definitely “ political prisoners.” Whatever happened, whether it was just a few misguided tourists or an inside job, Donald Trump is certainly not to blame and should not face punishment. In the weeks after the election and leading up to this broadcast, Hannity's team monitored for evidence to support Powell's claims but saw none. POWELL (claiming that some witnesses of fraud can't come forward because they lack government protections): "That's something that the government really needs to give them if they want to get to the truth of all the matters with which we're gathering more evidence every day."Īt this point, Hannity believed that it was "obvious" Powell's allegations were false, according to the legal brief. And I asked you today, you said to me there were people watching an Internet connection in real time, but they can't speak publicly and haven't signed affidavits to that. Why would we use a system that everybody agreed sucked or had problems is beyond me. HANNITY: "Let me ask you.I've gone over everything I've been able to find out. A senior producer, also under oath, said the show's producers had discussed the statement. Under oath, Dobbs admitted he had seen that statement on Nov. It included a link to federal election authorities' statement that the 2020 election had been the most secure in American history. It stated that it had no ties to the voting-tech company Smartmatic, or Venezuela. On that day, Dominion sent Fox News emails entitled "Setting the Record Straight" with links to information debunking the claims its shows had aired about the company. It was formed really by three Venezuelans who were very close to the dictator Chavez of Venezuela and it was formed in order to fix elections." Dominion is a company that is owned by another company called Smartmatic. DOBBS: "How important do you believe are the concerns being expressed in a number of states about the ability of these machines not to be hacked?"
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