Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor who was fired by the cable network after the 2020 election, testified on June 13 as the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack presented its findings to the public.
Prior to his questioning, the Jan. 6 committee presented video clips from interviews with members of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle, including former advisors Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Rudy Giuliani, Jason Miller and former campaign manager Bill Stepien.
Stirewalt affirmed that President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., asked Stirewalt to explain the concept of a “red mirage,” which refers to the phenomenon of Democrats voting more often early or absentee compared to Republicans.
“So basically in every election, Republicans win Election Day and Democrats win the early vote,” Stirewalt said. He noted that his team made an effort to ensure viewers understood this dynamic, which would be exacerbated given the large number of people who voted ahead of Election Day during the pandemic.
“We had gone to pains — and I am proud of the pains that we went to — to make sure that we were informing viewers [about the red mirage] because the Trump campaign and the president had made it clear that they would try to exploit this anomaly,” he said.
Stirewalt discussed and defended Fox News’ decision to call Arizona for Biden as election results rolled in. He also said he did not believe that Trump’s attempt to litigate states’ elections via recounts was likely to succeed.
“You’re better off to play the Powerball than to have that come in,” Stirewalt said.
The hearing was the second of several planned by the Jan. 6 committee that focused on how Trump actively spread false information about the 2020 election outcome – what has become known as the “big lie” – in the run up to the Jan. 6 insurrection. In the year since its creation, the committee has conducted more than 1,000 interviews, seeking critical information and documents from people witness to, or involved in, the violence that day.
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