Fox News’s Bret Baier acknowledged the network was wrong about its election night call that Democrats would gain about five seats in the House of Representatives.
“Democrats have clinched a majority in the House by reaching 218 seats. There are still a handful of races undecided,” Baier said. “On election night, the Fox News Decision Desk correctly predicted soon after 9:00 Eastern that Democrats would retain control of the House.”
“But they also estimated Democrats would add about five seats to their majority. That did not occur. Republicans have gained six seats with multiple races yet to be decided,” he noted on Wednesday’s “Special Report with Bret Baier.”
Fox News’s Martha MacCallum also pointed out the network was wrong about that House call on election night during her show, “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Wednesday.
.@BretBaier and @marthamaccallum addressed the Decision Desk’s election night House call this evening. They noted that the desk “correctly predicted” Dems would retain control, but was incorrect in estimating the party would add about five seats.
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) November 12, 2020
“That did not occur,” both said: pic.twitter.com/FdJasjBSFd
.@BretBaier comments on the Fox News Decision Desk's Election Night projection for the House, reiterating that they "correctly predicted...that Democrats would retain control" while their insistence Dems "would add about five seats to their majority...did not occur." pic.twitter.com/Ny5NJ5ncsl
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 12, 2020
Fox News has faced intense backlash from its regular viewers over its election coverage, including this call. Other recent questionable decisions and attitudes by some Fox hosts, such as cutting away from White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's press conference on voter fraud allegations, have contributed to a ratings collapse.
Fox News Decides to Fully Set Themselves On Fire as Ratings Collapse https://t.co/oyAlb4qVxf
— RedState (@RedState) November 10, 2020
President Trump retweeted at least 10 comments on Thursday about how people have stopped watching Fox News, fueling speculation that he plans to "wreck" the network.