One worker said that Fox needs to “get out of Trump’s pocket” and recognize that some its most prominent hosts, including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, are “a total embarrassment, peddling BS and conspiracy theories.”
A recently-released set of legal documents indicates that Fox News employees shared concerns that the network’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election had gone too far, with some workers wondering aloud whether they’d sold their “soul[s] to the devil.”
According to The Guardian, the employees’ statements were detailed in a 771-page filing released last week. The filing is part of a pending defamation lawsuit filed on behalf of election technology company Smartmatic. During the 2020 election, Smartmatic was targeted by baseless conservative conspiracy theories.
The comments, notes the Guardian, were reported in anonymous internal survey, termed the “Fox News 2020 Great Place to Work Trust Index Survey.” In response to the survey, several employees said they felt that the network was intentionally aiding the Republican then-candidate, Donald Trump. One anonymous respondent, for instance, stated that Fox needed to change its “misogynist, racist, rightwing content,” adding that “Fox News is a propaganda machine for the Republican party NOT a news organization and should be acknowledged as such. It is embarrassing to tell people that I work here even as conservatives know [Fox News Channel] and [Fox Business Network] are biased information sources – not news.”
“I sometimes go home fighting back tears,” another employee said. “This network made me question my morals. Have I sold my soul tot eh devil.”
One worker said that Fox needs to “get out of Trump’s pocket” and recognize that some its most prominent hosts, including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, are “a total embarrassment, peddling BS and conspiracy theories.”
“Many days I feel like I am part of the problem and FNC is contributing to hatred in this country,” they said.
“This company aligns itself with the current administration and has lost its integrity,” an employee said. “I wish there was purpose for what we do other than pushing the brand, ideology and political will of [the president],” another wrote.
In court documents, Smartmatic stated it believed the comments provide evidence that Fox knew, or should have known, that its own employees had concerns about the integrity of the network’s election coverage. Furthermore, Smartmatic said that, despite receiving the results of the survey, Fox’s executives failed to act on what should have been a “stark warning” about its programming.
Smartmatic is currently litigating defamation cases against several other conservative news networks and media personalities. More recently, the company was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly paying a $1 million bribe to an election official in the Philippines, reportedly to secure a “lucrative” contract.
Smartmatic has since denied these allegations, arguing that they’re politically motivated and were filed at the behest of the Trump administration.
“We can now categorically deny those allegations,” Smartmatic said in a statement. “This is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law. We will contest the claims, and we are confident we will prevail in court.”
Sources
Fox News employees expressed concerns network was intentionally aiding Trump, legal filings reveal
US prosecutors charge voting tech company Smartmatic in alleged bribery scheme
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