Fox News hasn't accepted responsibility for its role in the U.S. Capitol siege

NPR

"On the contrary, the network that has helped shape conservative politics in the U.S. for more than two decades has yet to acknowledge how the heated rhetoric radiating from its shows and stars may have helped inspire the pro-Trump rampage," says David Folkenflik and Tom Dresibach. "Comments from prominent Fox News hosts and guests had helped stoke the MAGA mob's fury for the two months following the November elections. In December, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs said opponents of President Trump throughout the government had committed 'treason,' and later suggested that any Republican who upheld President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the Electoral College may be 'criminal.' Three days before the protest that turned into the riot, Fox News host Mark Levin told viewers, 'If we don't fight on Jan. 6 on the floor of the Senate and the House — and that is the joint meeting of Congress on these electors — then we are done.' Among those taking inspiration from Fox News figures: Ashli Babbitt, the U.S Air Force veteran who joined the protests and was shot and killed while storming the Capitol. While she adopted fringe conspiracy theories of QAnon, an NPR analysis of her social media presence shows Babbitt was also significantly influenced by Fox News hosts, contributors and frequent guests. Three Fox News staffers and two other people with close ties to Fox say the network's senior leaders have exerted no discernible effort to corral their leading figures or even express any coherent guidance for on-air discourse at a time of national crisis. (They spoke on condition of anonymity; Fox News declined to comment for this story.) For now, its strategic stance for the future is not clearly in focus to the outside eye, other than promising more of the same to hold onto Trump fans as continued viewers."

ALSO:

• Fox News personalities that amplified the "Big Lie" of the stole election are complicit in the deadly U.S. Capitol riot: "In the weeks that followed the election results, Fox viewers were left confused by competing reports. Fox News had called the election for Biden, but its most-watched hosts were questioning it. Maria Bartiromo, for example, was beating the drum of election fraud, only to have her claims thoroughly debunked a few hours later by news anchor Eric Shawn," says Colby Hall, adding: "The support of stolen election claims even continued after the deadly attack on Wednesday. Take for example Sean Hannity, who seconds after condemning the insurrection added, 'The people who acted violently today, they don’t represent the millions of law-abiding, hard-working, tax-paying citizens, responsible American patriots that are worried about election integrity.' No reasonable person is against election integrity. Bringing it up in this context is straight from the Hawley-Cruz playbook."
• Steve Doocy repeatedly smacked down Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade over Trump impeachment
• Seth Meyers mocks Tucker Carlson for playing victim after the Capitol riot