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During the 2020 election cycle, MacCallum misled viewers about “864 dead people” voting in Michigan’s primary, a false claim which she later was forced to correct. [Fox News, Outnumbered, 8/17/20; Media Matters, 11/8/22]
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MacCallum described Trump’s remarks that the election is a “scam that the Democrats are pulling” as “interesting” and said that “the ground is being softened for all kinds of interpretations of what happens on that day, on both sides.” [Fox News, Bill Hemmer Reports, 9/23/20]
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MacCallum baselessly speculated that she may receive two ballots because she requested to vote absentee. [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 9/8/20]
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During a November 4, 2020, panel, Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley said, “When people say ‘count every ballot,’ in a situation like this it could prove utter madness.” MacCallum agreed, saying, “There is going to be a lot of subjectivity in the question of whether or not all of these ballots are valid in many cases.” [Fox News, Democracy 2020: Election Coverage, 11/4/20]
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Along with Baier, MacCallum reportedly encouraged Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott to consider pro-Trump viewers’ reactions to the network’s call of Arizona for Biden during the 2020 election rather than factoring in “statistics” alone.
Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, the two main anchors, suggested it was not enough to call a state based on numerical calculations, the standard by which networks have made such determinations for generations, but that viewer reaction should be considered. “In a Trump environment,” Ms. MacCallum said, “the game is just very, very different.”
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Ms. Scott invited Mr. Baier and Ms. MacCallum, “the face” of the network, as she called them, to describe the heat they were taking, according to the recording reviewed by The Times.
“We are still getting bombarded,” Mr. Baier said. “It became really hurtful.” He said projections were not enough to call a state when it would be so sensitive. “I know the statistics and the numbers, but there has to be, like, this other layer” so they could “think beyond, about the implications.”
Ms. MacCallum agreed: “There’s just obviously been a tremendous amount of backlash, which is, I think, more than any of us anticipated. And so there’s that layer between statistics and news judgment about timing that I think is a factor.” For “a loud faction of our viewership,” she said, the call was a blow. [The New York Times, 3/4/23]
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In an interview with former Trump campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany, MacCallum said that “everyone accepts skepticism” about the election. MacCallum concluded the interview by declaring, “You know, we agree with every element of not wanting people to be able to have to cast a vote that is not legal,” adding, “So I think pursuing this is good for transparency and it's good for the election system overall.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 11/12/20]
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MacCallum opened the November 17 edition of her show with another round of suspicions being cast against the accuracy of the voting system: “And while the states by and large want you to believe that it went better than ever, in this highly sophisticated country that we live in, if you phone knows who you are, shouldn't your ballot be just as smart? Clearly there is room for improvement on the next round here.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 11/17/20]
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After Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)claimed that the election was “stolen,” MacCallum agreed that states need to fix their election laws: “There are real issues that people have been fired up about, and I think rightfully so.” [Media Matters, 1/8/21]
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After Fox contributor and former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich alleged that Republican poll watchers were shut out of the counts in several cities, MacCallum told him, “I completely agree with you, all of that behavior is highly suspicious.” [Twitter, 11/6/20]
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MacCallum did not push back when former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin alleged in the hours after the Capitol riot that “we don't know who all were the instigators in this of these horrible things that happen today, I think a lot of it is the antifa folks," according to “pictures” she was sent. [Twitter, 1/6/21]
