Fox News reportedly told its staff not to use the term “president-elect” when referring to Democratic candidate Joe Biden if he wins the race.
According to their Twitter accounts, CNN journalists Oliver Darcy and Brian Stelter obtained two Fox News memos from three different sources that reportedly told its anchors to refrain from using the common term when talking about Biden. As it prepares to call the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, reporters for the conservative network should instead use phrases along the lines of “Biden has enough electoral votes to win the presidency.”
“Fox News is instructing its talent not to call Joe Biden the ‘President-elect’ when the network calls the race, according to two memos obtained by @brianstelter and me. The memos say Fox should ‘stay away’ from using the description,” Darcy wrote.
“The memos emphasized that Fox should report moves by Trump’s legal teams to challenge the results. ‘We will report both sides until there is further guidance,’ one memo said,” the CNN reporter added.
Stelter also spoke on live TV with fellow CNN journalist Jake Tapper on Friday, saying that the Murdoch family, which owns Fox, is “ultimately responsible” for all decisions taking place in their newsroom in the hours and days to come. The main reason for Fox’s decision to avoid the common political jargon appears to be the fact that Donald Trump has filed a series of legal challenges in connection to the November 3 election. Back in 2016, Fox dubbed Trump “president-elect” right after the election, a CNN report pointed out.
According to Stelter, Fox is taking the legal challenges as “if they are serious pursuits” and have continued to promote “voter fraud innuendo” and denigrate cities in states where Biden now holds a lead, such as in Georgia and Pennsylvania. Tapper then went on to call out his fellow journalists at Fox by saying that “if you are going to abide by this crazy instruction, you might as well hand in your press credential at the same time.”
The alleged decision comes after the Trump campaign reportedly expressed anger at Fox News, which has been a prominent supporter of the president throughout his first term, for calling Arizona for Biden before all the votes were tallied. As previously reported by The Inquisitr , the network stood by its decision to do so despite coming under fire from many Republicans.
Trump supporters all across the country also expressed their fury at Fox News, with some demonstrators in Phoenix, Arizona, chanting “Fox News sucks!” outside an election facility, The Guardian reported.
