Dominion Voting Systems, a company that creates voting machines used in some states, has filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, alleging that the media corporation and some of its pundits spread conspiracy theories about Dominion’s equipment and allowed guests to make false statements about the company.
Despite having no evidence, Fox News essentially stated numerous times that Dominion’s voting machines were rigged in current President Joe Biden’s favor and that Dominion’s equipment, not voters, ultimately handed him the presidential election. However, it was revealed last month, via dozens of internal communications sent during the months after the 2020 presidential election, several prominent network hosts and senior executives—including chairman Rupert Murdoch and CEO Suzanne Scott—knew that the allegations of election fraud they were reporting were false.
Tucker Carlson texted Laura Ingraham, “Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It’s insane” and “Our viewers are good people and they believe it.” Furthermore, Carlson texted to Sean Hannity that fellow Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich should be fired for fact-checking false claims Carlson and Trump circulated about Dominion. He wrote “Please get her fired. Seriously…. What the f*ck? I’m actually shocked… It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company.”
“The stock price is down. Not a joke.”
FACT: Fox News has been caught intentionally lying to its viewers about the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election for cable ratings purposes and there’s nothing but a heap of proof to support it.
It’s been an open secret for years that Fox News is catering to its viewers by presenting only what they want to hear, regardless of its accuracy. The truth, or any semblance thereof, obviously isn’t important to Fox. Who cares if their disinformation provokes a civil war so long as their stock remains high, right?
So, will Dominion’s defamation lawsuit serve as the proverbial ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ and result in Fox News losing mass viewership?
Answer: Don’t hold your breath.
On Friday night’s edition of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the host discussed Trump’s appeal and his fans’ immunity to negative information.
Maher suggests Fox viewers will look past the disinformation because “[watching Fox News] just feels right” to them.
“And now we have [them] caught red-handed that you are getting fake news,” Maher stated.
“We have this evidence. They’re caught red-handed talking. We have the transcripts, the emails, the texts. They’re saying they hate Trump. He’s bad for the country. They know he lost the country and they’re telling you the exact opposite. Aren’t you dumbasses, understand?”
Maher added, “[And Fox News viewers will say| Yeah, we know, but it just feels right. It feels good. And I need to feel good. And it doesn’t matter if it’s factually right.”
BINGO!
Guest John McWhorter added more, saying:
“So you think people are going to watch Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham lying to them, but figure, well, that’s okay because we want to get back at people (liberals and centrists) who look down [on us]?
“Yes. Yes, absolutely. Yes. That’s exactly it,” Maher emphatically chimed.
Observation: If supporting Donald Trump in 2016 was mildly excusable, supporting him in 2024 and after everything that’s happened since isn’t. But, over 40 percent of Americans would vote for Trump today. Nevertheless, some folks only want what fits their narrative or makes them feel good, facts be damned.
To them, the truth – and reality itself – are secondary just as results in government are not as important as having your cult leader as President of the United States.
And David Pakman, on his popular podcast, echoed similar beliefs as it relates to the expected reaction of Fox News viewers.
“… If Fox has to settle, they might have to do a mea culpa and say ‘We were wrong. We lied about this and that,’ … I don’t even think their followers would care about that. I genuinely don’t,” stated Pakman.
“They’ll go ‘the liberal media forced them to do it. The liberal establishment forced them to do it. They didn’t really lie. They told the truth.'”