The Fox News Midterm MELTDOWN!
An overview of the entire midterm election night broadcast on Fox News
It’s ironic that the most popular cable news channel in the United States still has the gall to call itself fair and balanced. The phrase only makes sense if by fair they mean the Republican Party is glorious and amazing and by balanced they imply the Democrat Party is full of communists intent on destroying America.
As results came in and it became clearer that the great red wave wasn’t materializing the various Fox News personalities and the experts they invited openly lamented the state of the nation and their beloved Republican party.
Several pundits and strategists criticized former President Donald J. Trump - the bombastic former television host and real estate mogul who still insists he won the last election despite no evidence that backs his absurd claims.
The same man who sat in the White House dining room watching Fox News as the U.S. Capitol was ransacked by an angry mob.
Fox News defended everything and anything Donald J. Trump did or said. Even if an occasional host or guest made a somewhat critical remark about him or his administration the network would ultimately make amends with the would be tyrant.
On Tuesday night however things were different. As candidates Trump hand-picked and endorsed failed to win their elections Fox News finally started to turn on him. At first the remarks were mild but by the end of the night even his closest advisors were passionately blaming him for this fiasco.
Fox News could handle the possibility that Trump stole classified documents and sold them to a hostile foreign power but the prospect of two more years of Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer was just too much.
While his biggest rival, Governor Ron DeSantis, had remarkable gains in Florida, many of Trump’s handpicked proteges failed miserably. The time had come for a shift in focus. This could finally be the end of the dominance of mad man who lost the popular vote twice, was impeached twice, cost his party the House, the Senate and the presidency, fomented a riot on our Nation’s Capitol, and nearly got his Vice President murdered.
The following is an hour by hour breakdown of how Fox News covered the Midterm elections. Instead of giving you my analysis on the night’s events I decided to let the pundits, personalities and journalists speak for themselves.
What follows is almost entirely quotes pulled directly from the broadcast. The partisan bias wasn’t even remotely subtle. This was full on cheerleading for the GOP.
Fox News panel
Bret Baier - Co-chief anchor - Fox News
Martha MacCallum - Co-chief anchor - Fox News
Dana Perino - Fox News
Brit Hume - Fox News
Juan Williams - Fox News - liberal
Shannon Bream - Fox News
Trey Goudy - Fox News former U.S. Representative
Bill Hemmer - Fox News (Hemmer worked the electoral map the entire evening.)
Nearly two dozen journalists, pundits and Fox News personalities would join the panel throughout the broadcast. Due to space I will only include the names of anyone quoted.
Hour 1 - This is going to be a great night! 6:00 - 7:00 PM
The tone started out jubilant and optimistic. Traditionally the party in power loses seats in a midterm election. The recipe for success seemed certain, President Biden wasn’t popular, inflation and gas prices remained high, and voters were fed up with Democrats and their woke agenda. A massive red wave and majorities in both houses of Congress seemed certain.
Dana Perino set the tone,
“It was very interesting to be sitting with my colleagues of “The Five”, as I'm sure it is for you in many ways, to think about how this midterm cycle has really been going on for since January 20th of 2021. And history repeats itself. Midterms are usually won by the opposing party from the president. I think one of the most interesting things tonight is to watch this Fox News voter analysis.
This Washington and many of the states across the country are going to have a lot of changes when they wake up tomorrow or by the end of the week when we have final results. And a lot of what informs their decisions going forward on how to govern the country, what the people are asking for, if government is responsive to the people.
It will have to really take a listen to what people are saying and that Fox News voter analysis. It's very interesting tonight,” said Perino.
Fox News stalwart Brit Hume seemingly forecast the simmering conflict that would be brought up repeatedly throughout the night.
“We've got this brewing competition between Mr. Trump and Governor DeSantis, which has been so obvious in the last couple of days. Big if it's a big, big night for DeSantis and his running-mates in Florida. That would sharpen that competition to beat Mr. Trump. Something to think about,” said Hume.
Bret Baier interrupted him,
“Yes, it would. And it's we're going to focus on 2022,” said Baier.
Martha MacCallum kept the mood light,
“But you're right. But that that is a story to watch, there's no doubt in a long time. Brit’s got a twinkle in its journalist eye right there,” said MacCallum.
Everyone laughed in unison as if this was a scripted sitcom. This was going to be a fun night, or so they thought.
Hour 2 - Jesse Watters makes it all about Himself 7:00 - 8:00 PM
Jesse Watters, the newest addition to the Fox News Primetime lineup showed up to give his expert analysis on how the evening was going.
“This election? Well, all I have are anecdotes and they're positive anecdotes. And I saw Miami-Dade go red, and that's a pretty big deal. I think that's a pretty big deal. . . I'm still hearing positive things about Republican turnout there. And I'm hearing very positive anecdotes from . . . I had predicted on “The Five”, that on “Jesse Watters Primetime”, 53 (senate seats), maybe 54 if Republicans get New Hampshire.
But the anecdotes that I'm seeing and the early data shows me that we're looking at 53 possible 54 in the Senate and maybe get up to as high as 240 plus House seats. It's going to be a powerful wave election and it's just based on the economy and crime and just it goes across every demographic. It's not like you're running on the Trump tax cuts or you're running on Obamacare . . . and then I think tomorrow the president's going to have to say something. He's going to have to come to the cameras and admit maybe something went wrong and we'll see if he can own up to it . . . I was recognized a few times in my deep blue Manhattan polling precinct, so I consider that an also positive anecdote,” said Watters.
Other than his overuse of the word - anecdote and bloated predictions Watters brought very little to the discussion.
Trey Gowdy thought he came up with a real zinger,
“I will defend Joe Biden. There's some talk that he's not going to give a statement tomorrow. I actually got a copy of his statement already. ‘I exercise my right to remain silent on the Fifth Amendment,’ because there is no good explanation,” said Gowdy.
Hour 3 - Tucker Carlson - Poor White Men! 8:00 - 9:00 PM
Tucker Carlson the ratings king of the network brought some of his signature racist venom.
“I really think we're undervaluing the extent to which BLM, the Democratic Party, going all in for the Black Lives Matter movement in the summer of 2020 really moved Hispanic voters to the Republican side.
I think it shows up in polling results. Nobody wants to say it, but it's absolutely a meaningful factor, I would say, in this. But I mean, if tomorrow morning we wake up and these numbers in Miami-Dade and Texas are real and possibly in Arizona, then I think you're looking at really a different Democratic coalition,” said Carlson.
Carlson also thought it was a good idea to make a few critical remarks about Dominion Voting Systems, the company currently suing Fox News Corp. for defamation.
“What happened today in Maricopa County, where some huge percentage of voting machines, electronic voting machines, according the Arizona Republic, 30% think they claim these are Dominion voting machines, but it almost doesn't matter. Electronic voting machines didn't allow people to vote, apparently, and that whatever you think of it, the cause of it, it shakes people's faith in the system. That is an actual threat to democracy,” said Carlson.
MacCallum then asked Carlson to expound a bit on what he meant by Democrats having a different coalition.
“It's really a hopeful outcome, I would say. And I'm not saying that as a partisan. I'm saying it because you don't want a country where it's white men against everybody else. And that really was the dream of the Democratic Party. That's the politics they hope to create. And what you're seeing is instead NPR listeners versus everyone else. Right. So in the end, you're going to have a Democratic coalition that's only people with pledge drive tote bags versus the whole country. And they're not going to win,” said Carlson.
Hour 4 - The Panel Starts to Turn on Trump - 9:00 - 10:00 PM
As the vote totals and the electoral map don’t show the numbers anyone had hoped for Brit Hume shifted his focus to the person who had promoted most of the senatorial candidates who were now underperforming.
“J.D Vance was one of the one of the candidates who had criticized McConnell. Right. And McConnell weighs in with PAC money that he rounds up to try to save his candidacy. Right. In the meantime, a certain other person we can’t talk about who raised a ton of money, spent very damn little of it to support the candidates that he endorsed,” said Hume.
Bret Baier tried to shift focus.
“We had a lot of outside groups that pump money into Ohio to help J.D. Vance. At the beginning,” said Baier.
Then Republican strategist Karl Rove jumped in and finally named the former president outright.
“Peter Thiel put, I think, $15 million into a super PAC to get him elected and then hasn't been seen in the general election. I think I think Brit’s point is an accurate one. Let's see where the $100 million that President Trump has in his warchest after the election. Think about how it could have been deployed.
Hour 5 - DENIAL! Florida! Think of Florida! 10:00 - 11:00 PM
Longtime Fox News host Laura Ingraham joined the panel mostly to praise the State of Florida and her favorite governor Ron DeSantis.
“Florida is still the model for the country. I think the coalition of new voters, younger voters, Latino voters. We'll see where African-American voters turn out in Miami-Dade when it's really broken down. But this was a tour de force performance by Ron DeSantis and Marco Rubio. And to me, that is the great light for the Republican Party,” said Ingraham.
Fox Business host, Larry Kudlow also remained confident.
“These election returns, which I still believe is a two house sweep by the GOP. Will amount to a repudiation of all the big government socialism undertaken by President Biden and he will have to listen to those election returns. It may not be easy. My colleagues are correct on that. But I think at some point he's going to have to turn. You can't violate the will of the voters the whole time. And if that is the case, if we can unlock the oil and gas industry again, if we can cut back on the spending, by the way, make the Trump tax cuts permanent, it'll take the pressure off the Federal Reserve's tightening. And you may have a much better outlook for the economy and the stock market in those circumstances,” said Kudlow.
Anchors and pundits on Fox News often refer to President Biden as a socialist. Biden and his policies are very much rooted in capitalism.
Hour 6 - Panic Starts to Set In - 11:00 - 12:00 Midnight
Harold Ford Jr, a former congressman and a moderate voice on “The Five” was one of the first to openly declare that things were not looking good for the GOP.
“Republicans have to be a little disappointed they're going to likely win the House. But we talked about earlier this year. But New Hampshire. I know. But but but this is still the facts here. New Hampshire has gone Democrat. Pennsylvania doesn't look great. This thing could come down to Georgia and we now got to wait for out west,” said Ford.
Marc Theissen, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush he criticized former President Donald J. Trump without saying his name outright.
“From Pennsylvania, Fetterman is looking good that we don't know. Wisconsin is tighter than we thought. North Carolina is tight. Ohio, J.D. Vance seems to be pulling away. That's because Mitch McConnell spent $32 million trying to save a seat in Ohio that Rob Portman won by 20 points. That is all Republican territory, currently held Republican territory. So in order to have the status quo ante, they have to run the table and win all four of those of those races.
If they lose one of them, like in Pennsylvania, that means they have to pick one up in Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, New Hampshire now is off the table, Washington State, in order to keep a 50/50 Senate. So there is a huge opportunity cost because we spent $32 million to save that seat in Ohio. That is money that could have been spent in Arizona.
That's money that could have been spent in New Hampshire. That's money that could have been spent in Washington state to try and help the Tiffany Smiley with an upset. So there's a huge opportunity cost in picking these candidates who were running far behind the governors in their states, who are running by, you know, anywhere from 8 to 20 points.
And and because we had to spend that money, we're now looking at a possibility of keeping either a 50/50 Senate or maybe just barely missing or losing a seat. I mean, this is a this is a it's a that's a lesson that the Republican Party's going to have to look at how this finally shapes out,” said Theissen.
Then Democratic pollster, Mark Penn, finally just came out and called out the former president.
“Well, I think so far it's a shift to the Republicans, but not a wave. I think the House gets a clear rebuke for overspending, inflation and the economy. But I also think that on the Senate, the particularly the Trump candidates are struggling and I to me, this looked like Florida was a real wave for the Republicans, an affirmation of DeSantis as a potential Republican presidential candidate. And I think this puts Donald Trump in a very difficult position,” said Penn
Hour 7 - The In-fighting Starts - 12:00 - 1:00 AM
Guy Benson, a Fox News correspondent in Washington D.C. added his insight.
“Yeah, Virginia two, is a majority maker type district for Republicans. Seven in ten would have been wave makers and tsunami makers respectively. But it looks like the Democrats have held on to both of those districts. This is looking like a dog fight. If there is a national wave building for the Republicans, it hasn't quite materialized yet. It might do so later into the evening. But, you know, a big blowout, red wave early on, not happening,” said Benson.
A tussle of sorts erupted between Kellyanne Conway, former senior counsel to President Trump and Juan Williams, a left-leaning political analyst.
“I just don't see Kevin McCarthy as Nancy Pelosi,” said Williams.
“And neither do I,” said Conway overlapping Williams
“I just I just don't see it,” said Williams.
“Yeah, he's not going to spend money on trillions of dollars of nonsense, you’re right,” said Conway overlapping again.
“The ability to get something done with a narrow margin, I think is much more difficult. I think that's why we went through Paul Ryan, John Boehner and others in trying to do that with the Republican caucus. And it's just it's proven very difficult,” said Williams.
Brit Hume joined in.
“How much is he going to be able to do anyway. I mean, he's got if they only win one house. Nobody's going to be able to do much of anything,” said Hume.
Kellyanne Conway made a dig at Joe Biden.
“That's a problem for Joe Biden, though. That's mainly a problem. But I mean, he's going to become irrelevant almost immediately and there's going to be a reckoning in his party as to whether they can even have him run for reelection. He wants to. Why not,” said Conway.
Juan Willams responded.
“Wait a second. How is he irrelevant? Wait a minute. He got his lot of his legislative agenda done in the first two years. He's going to if if the Senate holds, let's say it's a 50/50, he still gets the judges. He still gets to make an effort in terms of countering efforts, a lot of them coming from Freedom Caucus people to stop aid to the Ukraine. This is a bigger fight,” said Williams.
Hour 8 - Acceptance - The Night is a Disaster 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM
Kellyanne Conway started the hour by ripping on the Republican gubernatorial candidate in Pennsylvania,
“Ahead of that. I just want to say that the worst endorsement, really the probably the worst candidate for the Republicans, it's hurting the Senate candidate this time is Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania. He lost so miserably to Josh Shapiro, who almost all the stopped campaigning. Why would he anymore when Mastriano became the nominee?” said Conway.
By tearing down Mastriano Conway was subtly criticizing her former boss Donald J. Trump as Mastriano was a Trump pick.
Karl Rove gave his opinion on polling.
“Polling is broken. Let’s not kid ourselves. We had a golden era of polling when we all had landlines and we answered them now. Anybody here got a landline you answer?,” said Rove as he turned to the rest of the panel “I got one. Because when you ring my doorbell, my phone rings,” said Rove.
Marc Thiessen summed up his complete frustration.
“I mean, I think there's a broader issue here, which is that so think about this. We have the worst inflation in four decades, the worst collapse in real wages in 40 years, the worst crime wave since the 1990s, the worst border crisis in US history. We have Joe Biden, who is the least popular president since Harry Truman since presidential polling happened and there wasn't a red wave.
That is a searing indictment of the Republican Party. That is a searing indictment of the message that we have been sending to the voters. They've looked at all of that and said and looked at the Republican alternative and said, no, thanks,” said Thiessen.
He continued.
“The Republican Party needs to do a really deep introspection and look in the mirror right now, because this is this is an absolute disaster for the party,” said Thiessen.
Karl Rove drew the saddest conclusion of the evening in many ways.
“Supreme irony is, is that if you add up the number of seats in which Republicans are now leading in the rest of the country that have not yet been called by somebody, it gets you to about 222, which is exactly what the Democrats have today. So we might see a majority, a five seat majority. So where we are likely to find ourselves in a place where we are governing the house with narrowly from the Republican side, just like the Democrats have, the difference is, is that we're not going to be out there trying to transform America by passing legislation that can be signed by the president of the United States,” said Rove.
Ben Domenech the editor and founder of the conservative publication The Federalist also made some not so subtle digs at the former president.
“And two concepts, I think voters want a more populist, conservative agenda, as Kellyanne indicated. But I also think that they're tired of chaos. I think that they want normalcy. And I think that a lot of these candidates seemed more chaotic than normal. And I think that hurt Republicans in a major way all across the country,” said Domenech.
At the very end of the broadcast Dana Perino who had started the evening with much enthusiasm tried to soothe things over.
“So I would just hope everyone has a little bit of grace, understanding and maybe just look and try to read a little bit more into these results to see what people are really thinking, because America does feel like there is no order,” said Perino.
PBS - Start time 8:00 PM - End time approx. 12:30 AM
The Panel
Judy Woodruff - PBS NewsHour
Amy Walter - The Cook Political Report
David Brooks - The New York Times
Faiz Shakir - Democratic Strategist - worked for the Bernie Sanders campaign
Marc Short - Former Chief of Staff for Vice President Pence
Perry Bacon Jr. - Washington Post
Gary Abernathy - Freelance Columnist
There was nothing extraordinary about the PBS coverage. The panel represented voices and opinions from both sides of the political spectrum.
Abernathy repeatedly evoked Ronald Reagan in favorable terms. Marc Short defended the Trump administration multiple times. There were a few animated conversations between Shakir and the conservative members of the panel.
No journalist representing PBS showed any deference or favoritism towards candidates of either party. PBS also had correspondents in both Republican and Democrat campaigns.
If a Republican won a seat there was no visible disappointment on the faces or in the remarks of anyone working for PBS. At the same time there were no cheers when a Democrat won a particular race. Throughout the entire five hour broadcast the journalists at PBS remained neutral.
They even addressed the problems with the tabulation machines in Maricopa County.
PBS NewsHour West correspondent Stephanie Sy was reporting directly from a polling center in Arizona.
“And so they had to send out technicians and reset the printers. And about half of those were corrected by the end of the night. But it has led to a great deal of missing formation included, including by elected officials and former President Trump, who suggested that these problems mostly occurred in more conservative leaning voter areas. And I can at least debunk that right now and say that at least a couple of these problems with tabulation machines occurred right in downtown Phenix, which tends to be a Democratic stronghold.” said Sy.
As usual PBS NewsHour made Fox News look like the right-wing propaganda machine that it is.
The Fox broadcast was much longer than the PBS program. To compared the two I compiled transcripts at 8:00 PM EST onward and cut them both at around 260 minutes.
By the Numbers
The following three charts are a direct comparison of the words used in each broadcast. I broke them down into three charts as they were easier to read if I separated the larger totals from the much smaller ones.
For this first grouping the biggest differences were with the words Florida, Trump, Biden and New York. Fox threw far more focus on the governor’s race in New York while they celebrated the overwhelming GOP gains in the Sunshine state.
Not surprisingly the word crime was mentioned far more on Fox News than PBS as were the words economy, suburbs and border. Oddly inflation was mentioned more times on PBS than Fox.
The group is also very illuminating. The subjects of January 6th and abortion came up far more often on PBS than they did on Fox. Election denial was mentioned eight times on PBS and not once on Fox. I searched for several variations of terms regarding the last presidential election and the term “election denial” and kept coming up with nothing from Fox News. Latino voters were also discussed nearly twice as much on PBS than Fox.
Coming up…
I should have my usual weekly newsletter/podcast on Monday night.