FOX News Channel commentators have repeatedly claimed that in a recent video message to supporters, Senator John Kerry “blamed” FOX for his defeat in the presidential election. In fact, Kerry never said that these attacks caused his defeat. He thanked his supporters for “counter[ing] the attacks” by FOX and other conservative news outlets during the election.

On the November 22 edition of FOX News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly's substitute host John Kasich, regular host of FOX News Channel's Heartland with John Kasich, played a clip of Kerry's video message. In the clip, Kerry told supporters:

You moved voters, helped hold [President] George [W.] Bush accountable, and countered the attacks from big news organizations such as FOX, Sinclair Broadcasting, and conservative talk radio.

Yet Kasich declared: “Sounds like the senator is blaming FOX and some other media for his loss. ... [I]t sounds like 'the dog ate my homework.' Blame it on FOX News.” A guest, Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus, agreed: “John, what I find particularly interesting in terms of John Kerry accusing FOX of sort of affecting the election that way, to the point where he's blaming FOX for his loss: On this show, you know that Bill O'Reilly repeatedly invited John Kerry on this particular show to come on. ... Kerry refused.”

FOX News Channel host Sean Hannity introduced the same clip of Kerry's message on the November 22 edition of Hannity & Colmes by announcing, “John Kerry is blaming his election defeat on everyone but himself. Take a look at what he said about the role of the media in this month's election in a web video meant to thank his supporters.”

Weekly Standard executive editor and FOX News contributor Fred Barnes echoed this distortion on the November 19 edition of FOX News Channel's Special Report with Brit Hume, saying, “FOX was a little tougher on Kerry than other networks. But to blame it [Kerry's defeat] on FOX and -- it just is ridiculous and mighty petty.”