Fox conned its viewers into thinking Bielat had a chance

Leading up to the midterms, Fox News, the GOP's campaign arm, targeted numerous Democratic seats, either by engaging in their normal campaign of misinformation, or by almost exclusively hosting Republican candidates and promoting their campaigns. But there were few races Fox obsessed over more than Rep. Barney Frank's (D-MA). Fox engaged in an all-out attack on Frank by repeatedly hosting his opponent, Sean Bielat, claiming over and over that Frank's seat was in danger, and that Bielat had a good chance of winning. Dick Morris repeatedly implored Fox viewers to donate to his PAC so he could help to “defeat” Frank.

Turns out, it wasn't true that Bielat could win.

Despite weeks and weeks of Fox portraying Frank as battling for his political life, the truth was that Frank's seat was never in danger. The non-biased campaign website Five Thirty Eight estimated Frank's chances of winning as ranging from 97% to 100%. And the unofficial results show that Frank handily won the race by over 10 points.

Sean Bielat was never going to win that race, regardless of Fox's incesssant smears, insults, misinformation, and fundraising on Bielat's behalf. Speaking of which, just how much money did Dick Morris con out of Fox News viewers to make that case?