Fox News Producer Speaks Out After Resigning Over Biden-Bashing ‘Wannabe Dictator’ Chyron
Screenshot from Fox News at 8:59 PM ET on June 13, 2023
The Fox News producer who aired the Joe Biden “wannabe dictator” graphic has spoken out about leaving the network.
Alexander McCaskill posted a photo to his Instagram account showing him holding a cardboard box outside of Fox’s New York offices.
“Today was my last day at FOX. It was a wild 10 years and it was the best place I’ve ever worked because of the great people I met,” McCaskill wrote. “But the time has come. I asked them to let me go, and they finally did. To all my friends there: I will miss you forever.”
The controversial chyron appeared during a split screen Tuesday night, after former President Donald Trump was arraigned on 37 federal counts. Biden appeared on the left of the screen while Trump addressed his supporters in Bedminster on the right. During the dueling speeches, the chyron read, “Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested.”
The chyron was taken down after only a few seconds, and Fox later issued a statement: “The chyron was taken down immediately and was addressed.” Fox has not yet commented on McCaskill’s Instagram post.
McCaskill was the former managing editor for Tucker Carlson Tonight before Fox abruptly fired Carlson and the show ended in late April. McCaskill stayed on at 8 p.m. and ran the controversial chyron during Fox News Tonight, which has replaced Carlson’s show.
On his new show Tucker on Twitter, Carlson claimed that Fox fired McCaskill after “the women who run the network panicked.”
Carlson continued:
First, they scolded the producer who put the banner on the screen. Less than 24 hours after that, he resigned. He’d been at Fox for more than a decade. He was considered one of the most capable people in the building. He offered to stay for the customary two weeks, but Fox told him to clear out his desk and leave immediately.
Then the company issued a public apology for the 27-second long “wannabe dictator” line. Quote, “The chyron was taken down immediately,” Fox’s PR department said and then added ominously, it was, quote, “addressed.” That was all true, but it was not enough to save Fox News from the ensuing scandal.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about the Fox graphic during a press briefing and referenced the Dominion settlement.
“There are probably about 787 million things that I can say about this,” she said. “That was wrong what we saw last night, but I don’t think I’m going to get into it.”
The Daily Beast reported that McCaskill “features prominently in a toxic work environment lawsuit by a former colleague,” that was fired around the time of the Dominion settlement. Abby Grossberg, who produced for Maria Bartiromo and Tucker Carlson, claimed she was subjected to a hostile work environment.
Fox News responded to the suit by denying her claims: “We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against Ms. Grossberg’s unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees,” a Fox News spokeswoman said.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the subject of sexist comments alleged in the Grossberg suit. The comments in question were made against another producer, not Grossberg. They have been removed.
