Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States 1:17
(CNN Business) -
Fox News was the last to announce the result.
After CNN, NBC News, CBS News, ABC News and the Associated Press projected that Joe Biden had been elected as the next president of the United States, President Trump's favorite cable channel finally agreed.
Sixteen minutes after the first major network screened Biden as the winner, Fox was ready to announce the result.
But unlike the other networks, Fox was not yet doing special coverage with its top political team on one of the most anticipated news moments in recent history.
Before the network could make the announcement, Neil Cavuto, who was the host at the time, first had to make way for hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.
The transition was marred by an audio glitch.
The clumsy episode heralded Fox's scant coverage of Biden's victory over Trump.
For the next two hours, Fox's broadcast remained markedly different from other channels.
Fox News coverage of Biden's victory
In other channels, the seriousness of the moment was clear: it was the beginning of the end of an era.
One was defined by one scandal after another, one conspiracy theory after another, and one lie after another.
An era in which name calling and bullying became normal.
An era in which the rules were repeatedly and blatantly violated.
An era in which the president fanned the flames of division and applauded calls for his political opponents to be jailed.
An era that will end with hundreds of thousands of deaths as a result of a horribly managed pandemic.
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Fox had guests on air congratulating Biden on his victory.
The former president of the Democratic National Commission Donna Brazile, for example, shed tears when she said that the election of a woman as vice president for the first time "was not a partisan moment."
But looking at Baier and MacCallum, one would have had little to no indication of the chaos and disorder that have dominated not just the White House but American life for the past four years.
Instead, Baier and MacCallum showed the president an astonishing amount of deference in their coverage.
There are "cool things that could happen" until January 20
Despite their defeat, Baier and MacCallum followed suit.
Baier repeatedly noted that there is no real evidence of widespread voter fraud, but he and MacCallum repeatedly mentioned the legal challenges to the election that Trump has promised to introduce.
This, despite the fact that most legal experts have dismissed them as having little or no basis.
"We have to remember that he is the president until January 20," Baier said at one point.
"And there are interesting things that may or may not happen during that time as these legal disputes continue," he added.
At another point, Baier said again that "no evidence" had been presented to support the allegations of "widespread fraud", but also promised that the channel would not "stop digging and tracking and following the indicators."
MacCallum, who the day before had considered a discredited narrative about a vote-counting center in Detroit, at one point made reference to social media posts that Trump supporters believe suggest voter fraud.
MacCallum asked former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer: “They're talking about Sharpies (markers) and ballots and photos of them in the dust.
What do you say to them?".
Suggestions for a possible Fox News change
In recent days there have been suggestions that Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire media mogul who owns Fox News, was backing away from Trump.
And that you could see that division in Fox coverage.
READ: ANALYSIS |
Is the world of Fox News and Murdoch turning against Trump?
Fox, for example, was the first to cast Biden as the winner of the crucial state of Arizona, a decision that inspired fury within the White House and the Trump campaign.
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, contacted Murdoch after the statement.
And other Trump aides contacted Fox personalities to complain.
Fox kept that ad.
But the general tone of the network has largely remained strong in support of Trump.
Suggestions from the stars
The network's leaders have allowed its biggest stars, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, to go on the air and dishonestly undermine the integrity of America's electoral system.
Even on Saturday, prominent personalities like Tomi Lahren and Mark Levin unsubstantiated suggesting on Twitter that they had stolen Trump's election.
And the network's "direct news" division has treated the president's unfounded accusations against the electoral system with a softer hand than other networks and news organizations.
(A spokesperson for the network did not provide comment for this story.)
For years, critics of Trump have watched and waited, thinking that there might be a time when Fox could no longer bear to be the president's propaganda medium.
During former special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections. During impeachment.
During the pandemic.
But aside from a few brief outbursts, the channel has continued to support the president for the past four years.
In the last moments of the administration, there is no real indication that this will change.
2020 United States Elections Fox News