Dominion Voting Systems’ decision to get away with $787.5 million to Fox News for repeatedly lying about its on-air voting machines makes the largest known media settlement and deal in American history newsworthy. And while Fox’s full name is “News”, Stephen Colbert was confused as to why he couldn’t find any information about the deal when he visited FoxNews.com. “This huge settlement the story number 1 every cable news network except one,” Colbert said on his Wednesday night show.
Can you guess where this is going?
“When the deal was reached, Fox News couldn’t even tell its viewers how much money they spent on lying to Dominion,” Colbert explained. “The closest they came was the statement by the Fox News host and the stuffed body of Howie Kurtz: Howie Kurtz.” Colbert later cut a clip of Kurtz explaining that he could confirm the deal amount – two hours after the deal was reached and made public. “I wish this Fox News anchor had a . . . source on Fox News,” Colbert suggested.
Still, Kurtz did better than Lou Dobbs, who was named a defendant in the voting software company Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion libel lawsuit against Fox. “And we already know that Fox is afraid of that,” Colbert says. How? Because of Dobbs, who Late Show The host has been described as “a former Fox host and a wax statue of William Shatner left next to an open flame.”
Just one day after Smartmatic sued Fox News for defamation and named Dobbs, the channel canceled Dobbs’ long-running show. “It was a huge disappointment for the audience: a cage full of parakeets in the break room,” Colbert said.
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