With President Donald Trump’s first term in hindsight, Fox News no longer has a use for NeverTrump gaslighter Chris Stirewalt.
With its ratings now tanking, the former right-wing media bastion fired digital media editor Stirewalt and other members of its controversial Decision Desk team in an effort to stanch the bleeding.
However, other recent moves, such as shuffling the Establishment-friendly ex-White House correspondent John Roberts into a prime-time anchor slot, have conservatives eyeing the Rupert Murdoch-owned network warily.
Rival conservative networks including Newsmax and the One America News Network have since stepped in to fill the gap, although Fox currently retains most of its popular conservative hosts—such as Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham—under contract.
The Hollywood Reporter acknowledged that Fox’s moves, as a whole, seemed geared toward distancing itself from its former political alignment, according to Red State.
“The new cuts also reflect a news cycle that may be less intense in the aftermath of the election, and with Joe Biden set to take office tomorrow,” it said.
A Fox News spokesperson told the Reporter in a statement that it was part of a broader realignment plan.
“As we conclude the 2020 election cycle, Fox News Digital has realigned its business and reporting structure to meet the demands of this new era,” said the statement. “We are confident these changes will ensure the platform continues to deliver breakthrough reporting and insightful analysis surrounding major issues, both stateside and abroad.”
Stirewalt often was the public face of the Decision Desk, which on Nov. 3 last year controversially called Arizona well before any other network in favor of Democrat Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, the Decision Desk was far more reluctant to call battleground states like Florida that had clearly broken in Trump’s favor, resulting in the appearance that Biden held the decisive lead for much of the night.
That paved the way for a cascade of dubious projections, including the declaration that Democrats would make major gains in the House of Representatives that was ultimately revised.
Arizona, which backed Trump in 2016, went on to become one of six states that was the focal point of allegations related to vote fraud.
But adding insult to injury, the network also joined mainstream counterparts in prematurely declaring Biden the “president-elect” even before the Electoral College formally voted him in.
Trump ultimately conceded the election after the Jan. 6 protest at the US Capitol, when it became clear that a joint session of Congress would confirm the results and that no other legal or political remedies remained.
