Fox News is denying new reporting that one of its anchors alerted former President Donald Trump's campaign that the network was about to call Arizona for President Biden in 2020.
The allegation comes from journalist Michael Wolff's new book, which according to Business Insider claims that during the 2020 election, anchor Bill Hemmer "called Trump's lead social-media strategist, Jason Miller, to let him know the network was going to call Arizona for Biden." Fox News famously projected that Biden would win Arizona earlier than other networks, which spelled trouble for Trump's re-election after he won the state in 2016.
But Fox News is pushing back against the allegation, with a spokesperson telling Mediaite, "This never happened and is completely false." Mediaite notes Hemmer did appear to be surprised on the air when the call was made.
Wolff's book, according to Business Insider, also claims that Rupert Murdoch personally approved the Arizona call for Biden, while declaring of Trump, "F--- him." A Fox News spokesperson, though, said that "Arnon Mishkin who leads the Fox News Decision Desk made the Arizona call on election night and Fox News Media President Jay Wallace was then called in the control room. Any other version of the story is wildly inaccurate."