Fox News' decision to call Arizona for Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden late Tuesday night aided Democrats at a key time in the race, right as they were lamenting their poor performance in Florida, according to a report from The New York Times.
The network and its decision desk head Arnon Mishkin, in particular, received backlash from President Donald Trump and his campaign for the early projection. But despite Fox's chief White House correspondent John Roberts' report that the Trump campaign was "livid," Mishkin stood by his call.
"I'm sorry, the president is not going to be able to take over and win enough votes. We're not wrong in this particular case," Mishkin told the Fox anchor team.
This was also not the first time that the network's projections had helped Democrats when they thought election results were not looking good for their side, the Times reports.
In 2018, early results from the midterm elections made it look to Democrats and left-leaning outlets like the "blue wave" was a bust, but Mishkin's team at Fox called the House for the Democrats about an hour before other outlets did.
Mishkin also projected that President Barack Obama would win Ohio in 2012 despite others at the network, like GOP consultant and analyst Karl Rove, expressing their doubts.
The Associated Press eventually called Arizona for Biden early Wednesday — three and a half hours after Fox did — but not before many conservative election night viewers grew frustrated with the network and switched to other outlets.
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