'Profit triumphed over patriotism': WaPo columnist torches Fox News for promoting the 'Big Lie' for financial gain
A Washington Post columnist is torching Fox News for its contribution to former President Donald Trump's "big lie" following the 2020 presidential election; a massive lie that many argue subsequently led to the insurrection on U.S. Capitol.
In his latest op-ed published by The Washington Post, Eugene Robinson argues that Fox News knowingly pushed Trump's agenda while knowing it was a false claim about the election outcome.
"For both Trump and Fox News, profit triumphed over patriotism," Robinson wrote. "Trump’s campaign used the 'big lie' to raise $250 million after the election, according to the committee’s findings. Much of the money was supposed to go to an “Official Election Defense Fund,” but no such fund existed. Instead, the big beneficiary was the Save America political action committee that Trump controls. According to Jan. 6 committee researchers, more than $200,000 found its way to the bottom line of the Trump Hotel Collection."
In addition to influencing the insurrection, Robinson explained how Fox News ended up putting a profitable spin on the controversy surrounding the highly politicized election. The "big lie" appears to have originated from Trump campaign manager Bill Sapien's seemingly grim vote projection that he relayed to Trump.
"in a taped interview, Stepien said he had explained to Trump, well in advance and in considerable detail, that on the night of the election there would be a 'red mirage': the GOP-trending vote cast in person would be tallied before the Democratic-trending vote cast by mail, giving Trump an early, ephemeral lead," Robinson explained.
He later added, "On election night, Stepien testified, he told the president that his chances of victory were down to '5, maybe, maybe, 10 percent.' But according to testimony the committee revealed Monday, an 'apparently inebriated' Rudy Giuliani barged in and urged Trump to go ahead with a preexisting plan to preemptively claim victory."
Robinson also emphasized:
"Rather than defending Stirewalt’s work, Fox repeatedly welcomed Giuliani and other Trump-cult liars to its airwaves to make what then-Attorney General William P. Barr called 'completely bogus and silly' claims of massive fraud in Arizona and other states. Stirewalt was fired in January 2021 as part of a purported 'restructuring.”
Robinson still believes "sane Americans" will be able to tell the difference between what is real and what is not.
"The House Select Committee might not be able to reach the Trumpists who appear to regard being grifted by their leader as a mark of honor," Robinson concluded, adding, "But sane Americans will see what bad business this is for the country."
