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Let’s call it “Silence of the Sham.”
Howard Kurtz, who covers the news media for Fox News, said Sunday that his company is preventing him from discussing the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems, a company baselessly linked to election fraud by former President Donald Trump and in Fox News coverage.
Fox is apparently getting tight-lipped after a Dominion court filing revealed that several of the conservative network’s hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity, privately admitted in text messages that Trump’s election fraud claims were false while simultaneously fanning the conspiracy theories on their shows.
Kurtz, who anchors “MediaBuzz” for Fox News, said on his show Sunday that he had been told not to mention Dominion’s lawsuit.
Here’s his full statement:
Some of you have been asking why I’m not covering the Dominion voting machines lawsuit against Fox involving the unproven claims of election fraud in 2020, and it’s absolutely a fair question. I believe I should be covering it; it’s a major media story, given my role here at Fox. But the company has decided that as part of the organization being sued, I can’t talk about it or write about it, at least for now. I strongly disagree with that decision, but as an employee, I have to abide by it. And if that changes, I’ll let you know.
You can watch the clip here:
Shortly after Dominion’s court filing became public, a Fox News spokesperson suggested that the release of text messages was part of the “noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners” and said the case boils down to First Amendment protections.
But the network is clearly trying its best to make sure its airwaves make no mention of the Dominion lawsuit in any capacity. Politico reported Monday morning that Fox had declined to air an advertisement from MoveOn that highlighted its hosts’ willful lies about the 2020 election.
Fortunately, this is the internet. So the progressive organization’s ad is available for you to watch here.
The irony in Fox News’ predicament can’t be overstated: The network is currently engaged in a real conspiracy to hide its coverage of a fake conspiracy.