Fox News election desk head insists there's no pressure to 'make our audience happy'

When Fox News' decision desk called Arizona for now-President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, then-President Donald Trump and many of his MAGA loyalists were furious. Chris Stirewalt, who headed that decision desk at the time, was even fired following that MAGA backlash. And Fox News rival Newsmax enjoyed a temporary surge in ratings.

But Arnon Mishkin, who will be heading Fox News' decision desk on Election Night 2024, is insisting that he is under no pressure from executives to "make our audience happy."

During a Q&A interview with Politico published on October 21, Mishkin said he will call the election results as soon as he feels confident about the outcome.

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According to Mishkin, calling the election will "be a little bit harder" in 2024 than it was in 2020.

Mishkin told Politico, "The race seems very, very close. It is dependent on a number of states, like Pennsylvania, that we believe are going to be reporting in a pattern similar to the way they have reported in the past. So I'd say, the over/under is Saturday, which was when the call was made last time. Which is when Pennsylvania is likely to come in. I think we have to accept the reality that we don't really know how close this election is going to be. I'm pretty sure it's going to be close. I see some polls that say, 'Actually, it ain't going to be close. It's going to be one way or the other.'"

The Lincoln Project's Stuart Stevens, a veteran conservative consultant and outspoken Never Trumper who is supporting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, has predicted that Harris will enjoy an October surge that will mirror Republican Ronald Reagan's October surge in 1980. But with the 2024 election only 15 days after, polls of key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are showing a very close race. Harris is slightly ahead in some polls; Trump is slightly ahead in others.

Mishkin views the 2024 election as a real nail-biter.

The head of Fox News' 2024 decision desk told Politico, "There's some reporting that Trump is sort of gaining. Some of the polls have showed he's gaining. There's another sense I have that actually he may be declining. I think the real issue is what happens to Trump. I've always thought this about this election: It's less about who's running against him than it's about Trump."

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Asked about Trump contesting the 2020 election results — and possibly the 2024 election results as well — Mishkin responded, "If there are issues about the outstanding vote and the like, we take that into account. The litigation which exists is a news story. But the story we're focused on is, who is getting more votes. The litigation may affect stuff. There's already the start of litigation."

Mishkin continued, "I think all the journalistic organizations are focused on that. To the extent the election’s going to be decided if the courts make certain decisions, that's a story. But it's a different story from: Who got more votes?"

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Read CNN's full interview with Arnon Mishkin at this link.