NEW YORK – Media mogul Rupert Murdoch admitted in a deposition that hosts on his Fox News network promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, court documents show.
The 91-year-old billionaire said some anchors had “endorsed” the falsehood, according to a filing by vote machine maker Dominion, which is suing Fox for defamation.
Murdoch denied though that the conservative network in its entirety had pushed Trump’s baseless claim that he had lost to Joe Biden because of widespread fraud.
“Not Fox, No. Not Fox. But maybe Lou Dobbs, maybe Maria (Bartiromo), as commentators,” Murdoch said under oath last month.
The media titan added that he had been doubtful of Trump’s claims, in the document released late Monday.
“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight,” Murdoch testified.
Dominion sued Fox News in a Delaware court in March 2021 for US$1.6 billion (RM7.19 billion).
It alleges that the 24-hour news behemoth promoted Trump’s false claims that its machines were used to rig the election.
The company argues that Fox News began endorsing Trump’s narrative because the channel was losing its audience after it became the first TV outlet to call Arizona for Biden, projecting the Democrat would win the presidency.
Fox News denies committing defamation. It claims it was only reporting on Trump’s allegations, not supporting them, and is protected by the First Amendment’s protection of free speech.
It can be difficult for plaintiffs to win defamation suits in America due to the First Amendment but the case risks inflicting significant financial and reputational damage on the right-wing network.
Dominion will have to prove that Fox News acted with actual malice, a tough burden to meet. The case could go to a civil trial if the parties do not settle.
“When Dominion is not mischaracterising the law, it is mischaracterising the facts,” said a spokesman for Fox News.
“Dominion cherry-picks any soundbite it can find from any corner of the Fox organisation even though it admits in its brief – 117 pages later – that most of that evidence is utterly irrelevant,” she added.
Trump repeated his baseless claims on his site Truth Social and said Fox “look too scared and frightened to reveal the massive amounts of voter fraud and irregularities already found.”
“Why is Rupert Murdoch throwing his anchors under the table, which also happens to be killing his case and infuriating his viewers, who will again be leaving in droves – they already are,” he wrote.
Dominion has also sued former Trump advisors Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
A court filing released earlier this month showed that Murdoch had described comments by Giuliani and Powell pushing Trump’s claims as “really crazy stuff. And damaging.” – AFP, March 1, 2023
