Fox News Walks Back Election Fraud Claims After Voting Machine Manufacturer Threatens Legal Action
Topline
In a segment aired on several of its shows over the weekend, Fox News appeared to retract allegations made against voting machines manufacturer Smartmatic, which—caught in President Trump’s web of post-election conspiracy theories—threatened legal action against the conservative network earlier this month for suggesting it had been involved in manipulating the election.
U.S. Fox anchor Lou Dobbs during “Lou Dobbs Tonight” at Fox Business Network Studios on September … [+]
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Key Facts
The network first aired the staged three-minute segment on Fox Business’ “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on Friday, then again on Fox News during Maria Bartiromo’s “Sunday Morning Futures” and Jeanine Pirro’s “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” shows where Trump advocates made some of their more zany claims.
In each pre-recorded segment, entitled “CLOSER LOOK AT CLAIMS ABOUT SMARTMATIC,” an unnamed voice is heard questioning Open Source Election Technology Institute Director Eddie Perez, labeled a “leading” authority on open source software for elections, who fact checks false claims about Smartmatic, including some that have previously made their way onto Fox’s airwaves as serious allegations.
Perez told CNN after the fact that he was not warned the interview would focus on Smartmatic and found the format to be “strange”: “I was anticipating a broader discussion about the debate around the election [and] election integrity.”
While the segment appears to be a legal retraction in response to Smartmatic’s demands, a spokesperson for Fox News would not confirm whether this was an agreement made with Smartmatic or a direct response to their request, characterizing the videos as fact-checks.
Smartmatic did not immediately respond to questions from Forbes about whether Fox News’ segment meets its demands, but told The Guardian that it would not comment “due to potential litigation.”
Chief Critic
“Fox News has engaged in a concerted disinformation campaign against Smartmatic,” charged the company in its 20-page demand letter sent to Fox News Media. “Fox News told its millions of viewers and readers that Smartmatic was founded by [the late Venezuelan President] Hugo Chávez, that its software was designed to fix elections, and that Smartmatic conspired with others to defraud the American people and fix the 2020 U.S. election by changing, inflating, and deleting votes.”
Surprising Fact
Not only has Smartmatic vehemently denied these claims, but it has emphasized an extremely limited involvement in the 2020 election as a contractor for the process in Los Angeles County, Calif.
Key Background
Smartmatic—one of two voting machine manufacturers that’s been attacked by Trump and his allies for supposedly rigging the 2020 election—demanded retractions and delivered legal notices to Fox News, One America News Network and Newsmax earlier this month for statements made by hosts, including Lou Dobbs, as well as guests, like pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who has been the source of some of the post-election periods more outlandish claims. In its demand letter, Smartmatic stipulated that Fox News must make its corrections on “multiple occasions” during prime-time shows to “match the attention and audience targeted with the original defamatory publications.” Newsmax aired its own apparent response to Smartmatic’s demands, in which host John Tabacco sought to “clarify” the network’s coverage, stressing that it “has not reported as true certain claims made about these companies.
Crucial Quote
“There are certain facts our viewers and readers should be aware of,” said Tabacco, rattling off common fraud claims that he said there is “no evidence” to support. “Smartmatic is a U.S. company and not owned by the Venezuelan government.”
Tangent
The other target, Dominion Voting Systems, has also requested a retraction from President Trump’s informal legal team led by Powell. One America News Network and Newsmax, which are both unabashedly pro-Trump, did not immediately respond to questions from Forbes about whether they will retract their own stories about Smartmatic, though Newsmax previously said in a statement that it “has never made a claim of impropriety about Smartmatic, its ownership or software.”
Big Number
118. That’s the number of times Smartmatic has been mentioned on Fox News and Fox Business collectively, according to tracker TVEyes. Dominion has been mentioned 792 times.
Further Reading
“The ‘Red Slime’ Lawsuit That Could Sink Right-Wing Media” (The New York Times)
“Dominion Demands Sidney Powell Retract ‘Knowingly Baseless’ Voting Machine Conspiracy Theory” (Forbes)
“Voting Machine Manufacturer Demands Retractions From Conservative News Networks Over Fraud Claims” (Forbes)
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