Hot mic catches Fox News anchor's stunned response to guest criticizing media calling election for Joe Biden



A Fox News anchor was caught on a hot mic offering a stunned response to a guest who questioned the media calling the presidential election for former Vice President Joe Biden.

Anchor Sandra Smith appeared not to realize she was still on the screen as she mocked her guest on her morning show, "American's Newsroom."

"I think everybody wants to know that this was done properly and legally and we can trust the results," said attorney Cleta Mitchell.

"And I think we have to look into every one of these concerns. Remember, just because CNN says, or even Fox News says that somebody's president doesn't make them president," Mitchell said.

"What?" Smith asked.

"What is happening? Like, Trace, we've called it," she said, referring to co-anchor Trace Gallagher, who was interviewing Mitchell.

Video of the comment was circulated widely on social media:

Sandra Smith, off-air, reacts to her colleague Trace Gallagher indulging a nutjob who denies the outcome of the ele… https://t.co/Jr18tWdWMF
— Timothy Burke (@Timothy Burke)1604933417.0

That version of the video garnered over 2 million views on Monday.

Mitchell later responded on her Twitter account to the condescending response by Smith.

"Sandra Smith thinks FoxNews calling the election means Biden is President," tweeted Mitchell.

Sandra Smith thinks FoxNews calling the election means Biden is President. Forget that pesky Constitution... happy… https://t.co/iRCMjeyLhE
— Cleta Mitchell (@Cleta Mitchell)1604963465.0

"Forget that pesky Constitution... happy to be considered a nut job because I believe in the rule of law," she concluded.

Critics used the video to further pummel Fox News for what many said was a premature call for Biden winning the state of Arizona. Many Trump supporters have sworn of the network in favor of other news outlets. Fox News has stood by its call on Arizona, according to veteran journalist Chris Wallace.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a speech on the Senate floor Monday that the president had every right to litigate his concerns of the election and that the corporate media had no constitutional authority to call the election.

Chris Wallace defiantly says Fox News decision desk is 'not wavering' on Arizona call despite  'heartburn' for Republicans



Fox News host Chris Wallace said that the network's controversial early call on the presidential election in Arizona was unwavering despite social media outrage and anger from the Trump campaign.

Wallace made the comments on Thursday to Dana Perino on her Fox News show as ballots were still being counted in some states.

"At this point, the president is still trailing," said Wallace.

"Fox News has already called Arizona, it's caused a lot of heartburn in the Republican party, but I did check in with our decision desk earlier today and they're not wavering. They say that our call on Arizona is right, which puts him at 264 [electoral votes].

"And if Biden wins at this point, with 264, any of the three states I've talked about, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Georgia, he goes over the top."

Fox News appeared to call Arizona, a key swing state in the election, early on election night for Joe Biden, the Democratic challenger, despite numerous other news outlets declining to make a call.

Wallace went on to address accusations of voter fraud by the president and many of his supporters.

"Is there any hard evidence of fraud? There doesn't seem to be so far," said Wallace.

"There seem to be some allegations, but not hard evidence," he added. "And there is nothing that rises to the level that it could be enough fraud to switch votes when you're talking about thousands and thousands of vote difference between the two candidates."

Earlier Thursday Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign communications director, accused the director of the Fox News decision desk of being biased against Republicans and demanded that the channel rescind their call.

Notably, many independent and Dem-leaning pollsters, including FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver, have also criticized Fox's decision to call Arizona and have maintained that the race remains too close to call.

Wallace also said that the polling industry was "broken" by the margin between their predictions for the election and the actual results. Wallace said Democrats expected a "blue wave" but instead got a "blue ripple."

Here's the video of the comments from Wallace:

Chris Wallace addresses the elephant in the room, says that if Nevada gets called for Biden soon then Fox News will… https://t.co/yoHHVj1RrA
— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona)1604605604.0