One America News Network producer says 'majority' of employees didn't believe reports on voter fraud claims

Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
(Image credit: AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Marty Golingan, a producer at One America News Network, a right-wing cable news channel often noted for its affinity for former President Donald Trump, told The New York Times he was worried his work may have helped inspire the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

At one point during the incident, Golingan said he caught sight of someone in the mob holding a flag with OAN's logo. "I was like, OK, that's not good. That's what happens when people listen to us," he told the Times, referring to OAN's coverage of the 2020 presidential election, which often gave credence to Trump's unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud and Democratic conspiracies.

Golingan said that many of his colleagues, including himself, disagreed with the coverage. "The majority of people did not believe the voter fraud claims being run on the air," he told the Times.

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Indeed, the Times interviewed 18 current and former OAN employees, 16 of whom said the channel has "broadcast reports that they considered misleading, inaccurate, or untrue." But Allysia Britton, a former producer and one of more than a dozen employees to leave OAN in the wake of the riot, explained that while "many people have raised concerns ... when people speak up about anything, you will get in trouble." Read more at The New York Times.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.