In the aftermath of the 2020 US Presidential Election, Fox News found itself in the crosshairs of controversy. The network, which had long been a bastion of conservative news and opinion, was accused of bias and misinformation by both Democrats and Republicans alike. But it was the fallout from the Dominion Voting Systems scandal that really put Fox News in the hot seat.
Dominion Voting Systems is a company that provides voting machines and software to election officials across the United States. In the wake of the 2020 election, Dominion became the subject of numerous conspiracy theories, with some alleging that the company had rigged the election in favor of Joe Biden. These claims were largely unfounded, but they gained traction among some conservative media outlets, including Fox News.
Fox News aired numerous segments in which guests and hosts made baseless claims about Dominion and its role in the election. The network even aired a segment in which a guest claimed that Dominion had ties to Venezuela’s socialist government and that its software had been used to rig elections in that country. These claims were quickly debunked, but the damage had been done.
In the weeks and months that followed, Dominion filed a series of lawsuits against Fox News and other conservative media outlets, alleging defamation and seeking billions of dollars in damages. The lawsuits have yet to be resolved, but the damage to Fox News’s reputation has already been done.
Even some Republicans have criticized Fox News’s coverage of the Dominion scandal. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele wrote that Fox News had “lost its way” and had become “a propaganda machine for the Trump administration.” Steele went on to say that the network’s coverage of the Dominion scandal was “irresponsible and dangerous.”
Other Republicans have also spoken out against Fox News’s coverage of the Dominion scandal. Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a frequent critic of President Trump, tweeted that Fox News’s coverage of the Dominion scandal was “damaging the cause of freedom here and around the world and is an extraordinary disservice to our country.”
The fallout from the Dominion scandal has been a harsh reminder that even conservative media outlets can fall prey to misinformation and conspiracy theories. Fox News’s coverage of the scandal was irresponsible and dangerous, and it has damaged the network’s reputation among both Democrats and Republicans. It remains to be seen whether Fox News will be able to regain the trust of its viewers and repair the damage that has been done.