Among the egregious errors of fact committed by FOX News on election night, the early projection that Democrats would pick up five seats in the House. As of this morning, Republicans have picked up at least 9 House seats. The tweets below document the call and ask what happened.
I’ve still seen no explanation regarding how the Fox News Decision Desk got this projection so wrong on Election night. Polls were still open in a lot of places when this call was made. There should be some explanation. Instead, it seems like they’re trying to memory hole it. https://t.co/FwFLaOIa3O
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) November 11, 2020
Here’s the video of Fox News making this call on election night. It was the first call of the night:pic.twitter.com/MLp6q8Ql5c
— Eddie Zipperer (@EddieZipperer) November 11, 2020
As I have noted a few times, when FOX News called Arizona for Biden, more than 800,000 votes had yet to be counted. Arnon Mishkin, the smiling head of the so-called FOX News Decision Desk, appeared to assure viewers that Biden would substantially widen his lead in the uncounted votes. As of this morning, Biden’s Arizona lead has narrowed from 7 points to .34 percent (fewer than 12,00 votes). We are left to wonder and surmise what happened. What accounts for Mishkin’s miss? FOX News has so far rested on its right to remain silent. FOX News owes its remaining viewers an explanation.
Eight days after the election, Bret Baier acknowledged on Special Report last night that FOX News got the House call wrong. That was big of him, but (again) we are left to wonder and surmise what happened. Baier’s acknowledgement of error amounts to a pretense of accountability. (Again) FOX News owes its remaining viewers an explanation.
What happened? Either they don’t get it or they don’t want to get it. This doesn’t cut it. Indeed, this is an embarrassment.
.@BretBaier comments on the Fox News Decision Desk’s Election Night projection for the House, reiterating that they “correctly predicted…that Democrats would retain control” while their insistence Dems “would add about five seats to their majority…did not occur.” pic.twitter.com/Ny5NJ5ncsl
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 12, 2020
Via Robert Stacy McCain/The Other McCain.
