Former President Donald Trump has been confronted by Fox News host Bret Baier about his loss in the 2020 presidential election. Baier asked Trump how he planned to win back independent suburban female voters who had drifted from the Republican Party. Trump responded by claiming that he had won the election, despite losing it, and repeated debunked lies about voter fraud. Baier interrupted him to correct him, pointing out that there was no evidence to support his claims.
Baier also challenged Trump on his claims about the election being stolen, pointing out that investigations had found very few cases of voter fraud. Trump continued to repeat his claims throughout the interview, but Baier persisted in trying to get him to address the original question about winning back voters.
The confrontation came after Fox News settled a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, the company that makes voting machines, for $787.5m. Dominion had filed the lawsuit claiming that Fox News had defamed the company by giving a platform to conspiracy theorists who spread lies about voter fraud. The settlement led to Fox News parting ways with Tucker Carlson, one of its most-watched hosts, who had repeatedly parroted lies about the election.
Trump is currently facing an investigation led by the district attorney of Fulton County, Georgia, for his attempts to overturn the election in that state in 2020. The interview with Baier was Trump’s first with the Rupert Murdoch-owned network since his arraignment in a federal court in Miami, where he pleaded not guilty to 37 charges handed down by special counsel Jack Smith. Smith is also investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn the election results, including his actions leading up to the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
The confrontation between Trump and Baier highlights the ongoing impact of Trump’s lies about the election and the role played by right-wing media in spreading those lies. Fox News played a significant role in promoting the idea of voter fraud and stealing, despite no evidence to support those claims. The settlement with Dominion is a reminder of the potential legal consequences of spreading such lies and misinformation.
Original Story at news.yahoo.com – 2023-06-20 00:51:00
