Murdochs blessed Fox News plan to air 2020 election fraud claims, Smartmatic alleges

Wed, 03 Dec 2025

In key hearing in defamation case, Fox counters that network simply covered allegations by Trump associates

Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch authorized a plan for Fox News to embrace Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud in 2020 in an attempt to win back viewers angry with the network, a lawyer for the voting technology company Smartmatic argued on Tuesday.

“The conservative viewers, their bread and butter, abandoned them,” J Erik Connolly told the New York state supreme court judge David B Cohen. “So what do they do? They return back to what they know best: they return back to disinformation, pro-Trump propaganda and xenophobia. The election story and the election fraud claims was the perfect vehicle for them to get back on to their core messaging.”