Report: Texts Show Bret Baier Told Tucker Carlson He Was Uneasy with Fox News Arizona Election Night Call for BidenNick Gilbertson 5 May 2023
Fox News anchor Bret Baier, in the days after the 2020 election, appeared to be concerned with Fox News’s election night call that President Joe Biden won Arizona, according to purported text messages between him and former network host Tucker Carlson, which the Daily Beast has obtained.
On Election Night, November 3, 2020, Fox News’s decision desk, led by Arnon Mishkin, called Arizona for Biden at 11:20 p.m., the New York Times’s Chief Political Analyst Nate Cohen reported.
It was the first network to determine Biden had won the Grand Canyon State, though only an estimated 73 percent of the vote was tabulated, and many other news sources found it too close to call, per Cohen. The left-leaning Times, for instance, did not declare Biden the victor in the Grand Canyon State until November 12 – more than a week after election day. The Associated Press, however, followed suit with Fox News and called the race in the early morning of November 4, NPR noted.
Fox News’s quick call established a dissonance of sorts. Former President Donald Trump voters would tune into establishment outlets and mainstream outlets, in which their trust had waned over the years, and hear the Arizona race was still alive. When they tuned into Fox, the go-to network for conservative viewers for years, they were told Trump lost the crucial southwest swing state.
The Daily Beast reports having obtained texts, which were included in the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox News, between Carlson and Baier in the days after the election.
Carlson texted Baier on November 5, noting that he did not think the company understood the gravity of the situation, seemingly fearing that viewers would lose trust and abandon Fox News. One suggestion Carlson made was for Baier to explain the decision-making process on Tucker Carlson Tonight, with another being an interview with Mishkin – which did not materialize.
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https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/05/report-texts-show-bret-baier-told-tucker-carlson-he-was-uneasy-with-fox-news-arizona-election-night-call-for-biden/
