Liz Cheney Calls Out Fox News to Bret Baier: You Have a ‘Particular Obligation’ to Ensure People Know Election Wasn’t Stolen
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) confronted Fox News anchor Bret Baier on his network’s responsibility to tell its viewers that the 2020 election was legitimate.
Cheney was ousted from House GOP leadership this week, and has made a point of continuing to criticize former President Donald Trump and his conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
“We all have an obligation and I would say Fox News — especially, especially Fox News — has a particular obligation to make sure people know the election wasn’t stolen,” Cheney told Baier in an interview on Thursday.
Baier assured Cheney, “We have said that numerous times.”
“Fox News needs to make sure,” Cheney replied.
The pair began to speak over each other as Cheney defended her comments and Baier defended his network and show.
In the days and weeks after the election, some Fox News personalities peddled election fraud conspiracy theories and raised doubts about the 2020 election results. Some of the claims regarding Smartmatic, a voting technology firm, led to employees of the company receiving legal threats. Smartmatic sued Fox News and several of its top hosts for $2.7 billion, alleging the network spread lies about the election.
A poll from May found that 86% of Fox News viewers believe the election was stolen.
Both Baier and his fellow Fox News colleague, Chris Wallace, have been vocal about pushing back against the election conspiracies, repeatedly questioning Republican members of Congress about whether they acknowledge that President Joe Biden was legitimately elected.
Cheney continued to press her point on Thursday: “We need to make sure that the American people recognize and understand that the election wasn’t stolen, that we shouldn’t perpetuate the big lie, and that there is real danger.”
She also said that her focus is on stopping Biden, but that Trump’s legacy makes that difficult. “We cannot do that if we enable a lie,” she said. “We cannot do that if we fail to learn the lessons from the 2020 election.”
The congresswoman also made this point through an electoral appeal. “We have to get people to vote for us. And we can’t do that if we are a party that’s based on a foundation of lies. I think what the former president is doing is dangerous.”
Baier pushed back on her comments by pointing out that in Wyoming, more people voted for Trump than her.
Baier reacted to Cheney’s repeated urge to accept the election results, “You said the exact same thing numerous times.”
Cheney simply replied, “It’s important.”
You can watch above, via Fox News.
