Fox News execs believed allowing Trump to appear on the network on Jan. 6 would have been 'irresponsible'

18 February 2023

Fox News executives pushed back against former President Donald Trump's request to appear on the network in the aftermath of Jan. 6, new developments have revealed.

According to HuffPost, the executives' decision to decline the former president's request was revealed in a new court filing as part of a briefing held on Thursday, February 16.

Per the news outlet, Trump called into “Lou Dobbs Tonight” on the Fox Business Network to make the request for a television appearance. Although the network had a reputation for backing Trump, executives believed it would have been "irresponsible" to give him a public platform in the wake of all that transpired at that time.

A quoted testimony in the briefing highlighted remarks from Fox Business Network President Lauren Petterson who said the network felt that "'it would be irresponsible to put him on air' and that Trump’s words 'could impact a lot of people in a negative way.'"

Prior to Jan. 6, Trump and many of his allies had made numerous appearances on Dobbs' show as he was an avid supporter of the former president.

However, the network was not in agreement with allowing him to appear at the unrest that took place at the U.S. Capitol. In fact, weeks after Jan. 6, Dobbs' show was actually canceled.

The news outlet has also noted that the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol insurrection was also unaware of Trump's appeal to Fox Business Network.

The latest development comes as Fox News continues to defend itself against the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over accusations of voter fraud.

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