Prominent conservatives are lashing out at Fox News after the network settled its lawsuit with Dominion, the voting machine company falsely accused of aiding voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.
The lawsuit, which saw Fox News pay Dominion $787.5M in order to keep the case from going to trial, centered around the company’s assertion that it was defamed by the right-wing outlet’s rhetoric. Numerous hosts spread debunked claims suggesting that Dominion helped steal votes from former President Donald Trump.
Although the decision to settle kept Fox News from having to potentially pay $1.6B had they lost at trial, conservatives reacted with anger at what they described as a cowardly decision.
The right-wing commentator Sebastian Gorka, who served under former President Donald Trump as a deputy assistant for a short period, shared an image to Instagram this week depicting the network as a sinking ship.
In response, hundreds of conservatives online lashed out at the network for refusing to stand its ground on the false claims that many of them still believe to be true.
“What cowards!!!” one top commenter wrote.
“America is done, elections will be rigged now forever,” another added.
Over on the conspiratorial blog the Gateway Pundit, which was a major source of false election fraud claims, readers responded similarly to the decision by Fox News.
“If Fox paid a penny it was too much,” one user wrote. “Dominion should be the one’s paying anyone.”
“Cowards…” another added. “Actually this was money laundering done right in front of us…Dominion was paid for services rendered…”
Feelings were identical for readers over at Breitbart, who spread conspiracy theories of their own in response to the settlement.
“The point is to scare everyone away from ever questioning the absurd results these machines produce, and fake news Fox is more than happy to help,” a commenter wrote.
“Elon Musk should buy Dominion and expose them like he did Twitter leftards,” another suggested.
Despite anger from conservatives and years’ worth of failed hopes that the election results would be miraculously overturned, the grand election fraud claim remains as false today as it did in 2020.
Following the settlement, Dominion attorney Justin Nelson stated that the “truth matters.”
“Lies have consequences,” he said. “Over two years ago a torrent of lies swept Dominion and election officials across America into an alternative universe of conspiracy theories, causing grievous harm to Dominion and the country.”
However, the settlement also left those who dislike Fox displeased, as a social media push to keep them from settling went viral, with people hoping Fox executives would be forced to testify in open court about their behavior.
