Fox News anchors are reportedly being told not to refer to former Vice President Joe Biden as the president-elect, even if the network projects that he has been elected president.
The network has told anchors to "stay away" from referring to Biden using that term should Fox News call the race in his favor, telling them to instead use language like saying Biden has "enough electoral votes to win the presidency," CNN reports. One memo from Fox tells anchors to emphasize the legal efforts from President Trump's campaign in key states, saying, "We will report both sides until there is further guidance."
The CNN report says that it's possible this instruction could change but notes that the network referred to President Trump as the president-elect of the United States the day after the 2016 presidential election.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
No major news networks have called the presidential race yet, but were Fox News to project Biden as the winner in Pennsylvania, it would also be projecting him as the winner of the race overall. The network was previously the first to project Biden as the winner in Arizona, but as of Friday morning, other news networks still say that race is too close to call. Trump was reportedly so upset by Fox's Arizona projection that he called up Fox owner Rupert Murdoch to complain.
Following CNN's reporting about Fox's memos advising against calling Biden the president elect, CNN's Jake Tapper on Friday called on Fox reporters to ignore the "crazy instruction" and said that those who follow it "might as well hand in your press credential at the same time because you can't be taken seriously as a journalist." Despite the reported instruction, though, Fox News' Chris Wallace on Friday morning said that by this Sunday, "We may be talking about Biden as the president-elect." Brendan Morrow
Update: A Fox News spokesperson on Friday denied that there have been any "network wide memos or editorial guidance" from the network on the subject.
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 14, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
