Trumpworld isn’t happy with Fox News, which leaped ahead of its network competitors in calling Arizona for Joe Biden. Arizona is a potentially crucial state for either Biden or Donald Trump reaching 270 electoral college votes, and no other networks have called the state for either candidate. “WAY too soon to be calling Arizona…way too soon,” tweeted senior adviser Jason Miller. “We believe over 2/3 of those outstanding Election Day voters are going to be for Trump. Can’t believe Fox was so anxious to pull the trigger here after taking so long to call Florida.” Sarah Huckabee Sanders, speaking to Fox from outside the White House, said she thought it may have been a “premature call.” Also weighing in from Pennsylvania Avenue was John Roberts, the network’s chief White House correspondent, who reported that the Trump campaign is “livid” about the decision. “Frankly, there have been public calls for Fox to take back that call,” Roberts said.
Roberts wasn’t the only White House reporter hearing frustration from Trumpworld:
The call was a big topic on Fox News, where Bill Hemmer noted the “Trump team is disputing this heavily” and are “making a strong case that we jumped the gun.” Karl Rove, pointing out how Arizona is “on each campaign’s path to victory,” also suggested the call may be “a little premature” and would “be careful to understand how many more votes are out there.”
Later, Arnon Mishkin, director of the Fox News decision desk, was called on air to defend the decision. He did so unequivocally, noting that Arizona had been in the category of “knowable but not callable” for roughly an hour and that, while there are outstanding votes, there are fewer remaining than Trump’s team thinks and most of them are from Maricopa County—where Biden currently holds a strong position—and are mail-in ballots, which favor Biden. “I’m sorry. The president is not going to be able to take over and win enough votes to eliminate that seven-point lead that the former vice president has,” Mishkin said. “We’re not wrong in this particular case.”
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