“Fox News anchor Eric Shawn on Sunday debunked claims of widespread electoral fraud pushed by President Donald Trump and some of his allies at the network, calling them an insult to the thousands of election officials across the country who worked to ensure the process was free and fair. The weekend anchor said on “America’s News Headquarters” that the baseless and inflammatory claims about a rigged election were disputed by the government, election officials and voting experts and were “designed to undermine your faith in American democracy.” He aired video of Ben Hovland, the Trump-appointed chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, who said that the 2020 election was the most secure in history and among the best-run. “The American people made their voice heard, and when we spread conspiracy theories and we don’t back that up with facts, it has an impact,” Hovland said. Shawn also singled out Trump’s claim that Republican election observers were blocked from watching vote counts in Pennsylvania and other states. He aired an excerpt of his Thursday interview with Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, who called the claims “totally untrue” and added that he saw no evidence whatsoever of voter fraud. Must watch!After Maria Bartiromo devoted her entire show this morning to promoting Trump’s Dominion conspiracy, Fox News anchor Eric Shawn debunks it and other voter fraud claims, declaring that \”such baseless and false claims are an insult\” to election officials and workers. pic.twitter.com/ksM2hGIJqn— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) November 15, 2020 Shawn also addressed the conspiracy theory amplified by Trump that Dominion Voting Systems software used by several states deleted millions of Trump votes or switched them to Joe Biden. The Denver-based company, election-technology experts, fact-checking sites and news organizations have all condemned the theory as false. “Election officials across the country insist as of today there is no evidence of any widespread fraud affecting the outcome of the presidential election, that our precious democracy was not tampered with and that such baseless and false claims are an insult to the thousands of election officials and workers across the country who we have seen dedicating themselves 24/7 to ensure a fair and free election for all of us,” Shawn said. Shawn’s report stood in sharp contrast to that of Fox News personality and staunch Trump defender Maria Bartiromo, who hosted Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, and Sidney Powell, another member of his legal team, and allowed them to amplify the baseless claims about Dominion voter fraud. Sean Hannity and Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs have also given oxygen to the claims. Shawn joined his colleague, “Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy, in shooting the theories down. Without evidence, Trump has promoted conspiracy theories about voter fraud and launched legal challenges to undermine the reality that Biden won the presidential election. More than a week since most news outlets projected that result, Trump has refused to concede and is holding up the presidential transition that typically takes place after a winner is called.
