Rupert Murdoch Concedes Fox Hosts Pushed Election Lies to Increase Network Revenue

Newly released court documents reveal that Rupert Murdoch, the founder of Fox News, admitted that some of the network's hosts endorsed false claims about the 2020 election being stolen. In a defamation suit filed against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems, Murdoch is quoted as saying that Jeanine Pirro, Lou Dobbs, and Sean Hannity all endorsed the false claims, but denied that the network as a whole endorsed Donald Trump's baseless allegations of election fraud. Murdoch also expressed regret over Fox News' coverage of the conspiracy theory, stating that he would have liked the network to have been stronger in denouncing it.

The defamation suit, scheduled to begin in April, alleges that Fox News executives and stars privately mocked the pro-Trump claims of election fraud but continued to give them a platform in the hopes of boosting ratings and profits. Dominion Voting Systems argues that Fox acted with "actual malice" by knowingly spreading false information. While Fox News has dismissed the suit as baseless and a violation of the First Amendment, the latest revelations from Dominion's court filings may strengthen the case against the network.