Fired by Fox, Now He Talks to Jan. 6 Committee

By Jon Friedman, June 14, 2022

Chris Stirewalt is a stone in Fox News’ shoe – and the highest-rated cable news network can’t seem to remove it.

His dramatic appearance this week during the congressional hearings about the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol cemented his reputation. Whatever you might think about the revelations Stirewalt divulged, his testimony will almost certainly add a new term into the national political lexicon – “the red mirage,” which he discussed. It describes how conservatives who vote in person on election day, give a right-wing candidate an early lead. Then, as the write-in ballots are tallied, the liberal choice gains meaningful ground. It “happens every time,” Stirewalt pointed out.

Just the Truth

It was noteworthy enough that the Democrat-heavy panel (which includes GOP rebel Lynn Cheney) could exploit the testimony of a one-time Fox News stalwart to help its cause, make Fox loyalists squirm a bit and discredit former President Donald Trump. What was especially mind-blowing was that Stirewalt did all of this by simply reciting his version of events. He didn’t seem to be trying to plant a flag. He didn’t seem to want to call much attention to himself. He wanted, of all things, to tell the truth. Imagine that.

Stirewalt was fired by Fox in January 2021. He had been employed as its politics editor and was no stranger to its viewers. Ken Kesey immortally used to say, either you’re on the bus or you’re off the bus. Well, clearly, Stirewalt was on the Fox bus. He’d have been on if it was a bullet train. That’s how much of a member in good standing he was.

Stirewalt first appeared on media watchers’ radar screens on election night in November 2020. He was on the Fox News team that stunned the network – and millions of viewers who probably never suspected that someone from Fox would ever help Trump’s rival for the White House – that brazenly (and, as it turned out, correctly) called Arizona for Joe Biden.

Blame the Messenger

Arizona was a key state on election day. A win there, pundits and political pros knew, could help Biden unseat Trump. Ever since that bitter loss, Trump loyalists have worked feverishly to wipe away the bitter 2020 memory by ensuring that Arizona returns to the Republican.

Soon after that tumultuous night, in a classic case of blame the messenger, Stirewalt, who had been a rock at the Fox News Decision Desk, got the old heave-ho from Fox News, without explanation. Fox’s ratings slipped shortly after Biden won the 2020 election, presumably in part because some of its hard-core viewers were so disgusted by Stirewalt’s chutzpah that they left Fox for such right-wing rivals as Newsmax and the One America News Network.

Last month, Stirewalt joined NewsNation, the national news and entertainment cable network formerly known as WGN, as political editor. “We are careful about making calls,” he was quoted as saying in the New York Times the day after the election. “That’s why we have those protocols in place — so that we make good calls and that they stand up.”

Fox News just can’t seem to shake Chris Stirewalt. 

Jon Friedman wrote Jon Friedman’s Media Web column at MarketWatch.com for more than 13 years. He now teaches college in New York State.

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