Hadas Gold and Liam Reilly
Wed, October 16, 2024
Fox News hosted an all-women town hall with former President Donald Trump, billed as an opportunity for female voters to ask the Republican candidate questions that matter to them.
The Georgia town hall, where Trump took questions on reproductive laws, transgender rights and other issues, aired Wednesday morning. But Fox News did not disclose that the female audience it selected for the event was packed with local Republican supporters and the network edited its broadcast to remove some of their vocal advocacy of Trump.
The Georgia Federation of Republican Women wrote on its Facebook page Wednesday that the group helped host the event, posting photos from the venue and writing they were “Super excited for the opportunity of hosting this event right here in Georgia!”
Shortly after CNN reached out to the group and Fox News about their role, the post was edited to state they were “excited for the opportunity of attending this event right here in Georgia!” The group’s president, Pam Lightsey, later denied that it had hosted the event.
The Republican Women of Forsyth County also posted a video from the event showing attendees chatting with Trump and Fox News host Harris Faulkner.
A Fox News spokesperson told CNN the event was not hosted by any Republican group and that it was the network’s event alone. But the right-wing outlet did not disclose the makeup of the audience in its press release announcing the town hall or in Faulkner’s introduction, stating only that it was “held with an audience entirely composed of women.”
The first question posed to Trump at the town hall came from a woman identified as Lisa, who asked the former president a question about the economy. The network did not disclose that Lisa is also the president of the Fulton County Republican Women group.
Some of the town hall attendees made it clear they were supporters of the former president, either in their questioning or in their attire.
“I want to thank you for coming to a room full of women the current administration would consider domestic terrorists,” a woman named Alicia said to laughter from the audience before a question about foreign policy.
But a portion of Alicia’s question was edited by Fox News to remove her admission that she was voting for Trump.
“I proudly cast my vote for you today. I hope they count it,” she added, according to an audio recording from a CNN reporter in attendance.
While it’s common for a pre-taped event or interview to be edited for time, Alicia’s short remark came in the middle of her question, which remained intact on the broadcast.
During another moment missing from Fox’s broadcast, Trump asked the crowd who they were voting for, leading to a chant of “Trump, Trump” breaking out by the attendees.
Fox News did not respond to CNN questions about the missing remarks.
The crowd of women was overwhelmingly supportive of the former president, welcoming Trump with a standing ovation and often breaking out into applause during his responses. When Trump called President Joe Biden “the worst president in history” and Vice President Kamala Harris “the worst vice president,” the crowd burst into cheers.
One woman in the crowd wore an “RNC Delegate” hat. Another named Rachel wore a Trump pin visible on her blazer as she asked the former president a question.
When Faulkner asked the audience whether they opposed “biological men and boys competing against women and girls in sports,” nearly every hand in the room was raised, the Fox host noted. According to CNN’s fact check of the event, Trump made at least 19 false claims in the one-hour town hall. Faulkner did not fact check Trump on stage.
The UK-based news outlet The Independent, which reported from the Georgia event, spoke with attendees and noted many “were from Republican groups around the area whom Fox News invited.”
Rachel, who wore a Trump pin while asking the candidate a question, was later interviewed on Fox News. Though she was identified by anchor Sandra Smith as a Trump supporter, the woman pushed back on The Independent’s reporting.
“I’m nobody and I’m not registered with anybody,” she said. “I found out about this meeting late through my local county Facebook page.”
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Ariana Baio
Wed, October 16, 2024
Fox News host Bret Baier has hit back at accusations from people who believe his upcoming interview with Kamala Harris will be edited to make her seem more favorable.
Opponents of Harris lashed out at Baier on X after he announced the Vice President would appear in a pre-taped 25 to 30-minute interview for his show Special Report on Wednesday evening.
They accused Baier of giving Harris questions ahead of time, asking soft questions, editing the interview in her favor or giving into concessions for a chance to interview the vice president – accusations often launched by right-wing individuals or Trump supporters who believe mainstream media favors Harris.
So the Fox News host took to X on Monday night and Tuesday morning to assure people the interview, while pre-taped, would be aired as-live with minimal interruptions and no questions would be given to Harris ahead of time.
“No one has the questions. Except me,” he told an X user. When another person assumed Baier would “pass [Harris] the questions” Baier rejected the claim.
When one person raised “a concern” about the interview being pre-taped Baier responded, “It will run as-Live - in its entirety. It is taped because they gave us a time just before my show. We plan to run it uninterrupted — and not edited.”
Another X user floated the unfounded theory that Fox News and Baier made “many concessions” to Harris’s campaign so the interview would be “watered down”. Baier said that was untrue.
Baier had to explain that the only reason the interview won’t be live is because Harris’s campaign gave him a time slot of 5 to 5:30 p.m. – his show begins at 6 p.m. ET.
Harris’s interview with Fox News is the latest in the media blitz she’s embarked on to help voters get to know her across the country. So far, she’s appeared on The View, the podcastCall Her Daddy, Howard Stern’s radio show, The Shade Room, CBS show 60 Minutes, Late Night with Stephen Colbert, the radio show The Breakfast Club and more.
The vice president is aggressively trying to diversify her audience to reach independent voters and comes after Tim Walz was interviewed on Fox News Sunday this past weekend. Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation, has been making regular appearances on the network, with governors Gavin Newsom, Josh Shapiro, Wes Moore and Gretchen Whitmer also showing up.
Donald Trump does appear regularly on the network and participated in a town hall, hosted by Fox News, on Monday. However, Trump has also canceled several mainstream media appearances recently and declined to participate in a third presidential debate.
Despite refusing most mainstream interviews, Trump still accuses Harris of using a script or teleprompter in hers. He’s lashed out at networks and host for being too soft on Harris and accused them of editing an interview in her favor without evidence.
Some, like Baier, have defended their decisions. Most recently, when Trump accused CBS of editing Harris’s interview for 60 Minutes to make her appear more well-spoken the network denied the allegation saying they cut down her answer for timing purposes.
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