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Molly Butler / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Fox News is finally getting the Joe Biden impeachment they demanded before he was even inaugurated

Written by Isabella Corrao, Jane Lee, Helena Hind & Alicia Sadowski

Published

In early September, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) capitulated to right-wing media demands and announced an impeachment inquiry based on unsubstantiated allegations of bribery. Since Joe Biden’s victory in November 2020, Fox News personalities have been relentlessly searching for reasons to impeach the president, ranging from policy disagreements to fabricated scandals to musings of political retaliation. Here is a list of examples:

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  • McCarthy’s impeachment inquiry is a desperate attempt to appease the far-right flank of the House and Fox News

    • On September 12, 2023, Speaker McCarthy sidestepped a House vote and directed his committees to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden, giving in to far-right congressional Republicans’ demands. The announcement came as a September 30 government shutdown deadline loomed, with far-right members of the House demanding deep spending cuts from McCarthy in order to fund the government. If McCarthy fails to meet their demands, any one member could force a vote to vacate his speakership. [The Washington Post, 9/12/23; NBC, 9/14/23]
    • The impeachment inquiry is based on unsubstantiated allegations of corruption relating to Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings. Republicans claim that Joe Biden had multiple business-related meetings with Hunter's business partners, which allowed Hunter to receive expensive gifts and millions of dollars. Additionally, they contend that Hunter's position on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company, influenced then-Vice President Biden's decisions on foreign policy. [The New York Times, 9/12/23]
    • These allegations of corruption follow a smear campaign spun up by Rudy Giuliani and parroted by Fox News four years ago. The allegations forming the basis for Biden's impeachment inquiry were addressed during Trump's own impeachment inquiry in 2019, in which he was accused of attempting to pressure the Ukrainian government into announcing an investigation into Biden in exchange for military aid. Despite these allegations being dismantled by U.S. officials, George Kent, Kurt Volker, and Marie Yovanovitch at the time, Fox News chose to highlight them again on the night of former President Donald Trump’s third indictment. [Media Matters, 6/9/23, 9/13/23]
    • Former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin spread the lie that then-Vice President Joe Biden was bribed to coerce Ukraine to fire Shokin. However, there was widespread agreement across the United States and European Union that Shokin should be fired for being too soft on corruption, including allegations that Shokin was corrupt himself. Additionally, at the time of Shokin’s removal, he was not investigating Hunter Biden or Burisma. [Media Matters, 8/25/23, 9/20/23]
    • Right-wing media have also alleged that Joe Biden enriched his family by selling access to the Chinese government, compromising U.S. national security. A report released by the House Oversight Committee detailed payments from a Chinese energy company to Biden family members amounting to $1.3 million. Despite the report making no connections between Biden and any Chinese company, Fox News used it to repeatedly claim that the Bidens are compromised by the Chinese Communist Party. [Media Matters, 3/20/23]

  • Fox News personalities used the baseless claims of Biden's corruption in Ukraine to demand impeachment — even before Biden became president

    • On Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox host Jeanine Pirro claimed Biden could be impeached “for what he did in the Ukraine.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 10/28/20]
    • In December 2020, Fox host Sean Hannity contended that if Joe Biden was “sworn in on January 20th,” Democrats would have to “lead the charge” to impeach Biden over his supposed “leveraging a billion of your tax dollars to get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired.” Hannity then blustered about the unsubstantiated allegations, “Oh, sure, every vice president offers a billion dollars to fire a Ukrainian prosecutor. And, by the way, it's the very same prosecutor that was investigating that guy — zero-experience Hunter, and his shady foreign business corruption practices with the syndicate, and the Ukrainian oil and gas giant Burisma.” [Fox News, Hannity, 12/14/20]
    • The week before the presidential inauguration, Hannity again stated that Democrats will “have to impeach Joe a week from today” because of his “Ukraine quid pro quo.” Hannity then argued that Biden should be impeached if “we are going to apply the media and Democratic Party standards” but also as political retribution because “Democrats were plotting impeachment before Trump was sworn in.” [Fox News, Hannity, 1/13/21]
    • Fox contributor Tyrus claimed there was now “a real life Ukraine scandal with direct connections to the son, who might possibly still be getting money from over there,” and added, “When this stuff comes out, will there be an impeachment?” [Fox News, Gutfeld!, 3/30/22]
    • Hannity asked then-Fox host Dan Bongino whether “a quid pro quo with a billion taxpayer dollars” in Ukraine would “warrant the impeachment that they gave Donald Trump.” Bongino replied, “Yeah, well. Will they be held accountable? Not with Merrick Garland in charge.” [Fox News, Hannity, 2/2/23]
    • On his radio show, Hannity questioned “how much money” Joe Biden made “in the case of Ukraine leveraging a billion taxpayer dollars” and demanded that if Biden profited, he be “impeached and thrown out of office.” Hannity told his audience, “Now, do I think all of that happened? I really, at this point, am beginning to believe it all happened, but I’m going to wait, be patient, not rush to final judgment.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 4/27/23]
    • In response to Trump’s second indictment, Fox host Jesse Watters declared, “It is now time to begin impeachment proceedings against President Joe Biden.” Watters justified impeachment by claiming that, “Article II of the Constitution says a President may be impeached for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors” and baselessly alleged that Biden was bribed. [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 6/8/23]
    • Fox contributor Tulsi Gabbard said Biden “deserves to be impeached” if corruption allegations are true, but expressed concern that a Biden impeachment would “distract away from the very real issues that voters need to hear.” Watters retorted, “I want the distraction. I think that’s the main event.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 6/9/23]
    • Fox News contributor and Outkick founder Clay Travis cited a “credible FBI allegation” that Hunter and Joe Biden “were paid millions of dollars to help get a prosecutor in a foreign country fired — a prosecutor that Joe Biden himself is on record about getting fired — in order to get aid, a billion dollars in foreign aid.” Travis claimed that the allegations were worse than allegations against previously scandalized or impeached presidents Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Trump and that the evidence “definitely requires that Joe Biden be impeached.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 7/26/23]
    • Fox News host Greg Gutfeld said Biden should be impeached “for participating in the Burisma scandal.” He continued: “I say impeach away. They wasted our time. Let's waste theirs. And it's deserved. Joe instructed his dirtbag son to make it rain in exchange for influence.” [Fox News, Gutfeld!, 7/26/23]
    • Watters said Hunter Biden’s plea deal was a “containment operation” to hide “foreign bank accounts, foreign lobbying, foreign agents, foreign business partners, foreign policy, foreign deals — that's fertile ground for impeachment.” He continued: “That's when you get into conspiracy, money laundering, even treason, and that is why this looks more and more like a bribery ring.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 7/27/23]
    • Hannity speculated that Democrats would use Burisma bribery allegations to “get rid of [Biden],” adding that Biden “should be impeached” and indicted for bribery. [Fox News, Hannity, 8/28/23]

  • Fox News personalities demanded impeachment because Biden’s alleged corruption financially benefited his family

    • A month after Biden’s 2020 victory, Sean Hannity claimed that “if Biden ever [became] president,” based on Democratic standards of impeachment, “we’d impeach him on day one.” Former 2016 Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski also warned about the threat of the “‘Biden Family Inc.’ operation.” [Fox News, Hannity, 12/10/20]
    • Hannity floated the impeachment of newly elected Joe Biden because, Hannity alleged, he ran a “foreign crime syndicate.” Hannity asked, “All these people that impeached Trump, how do you not impeach if it's Joe Biden one day? How do you not do it?” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 12/11/20]
    • A week before Biden’s inauguration, Hannity asked Government Accountability Institute president and Breitbart senior contributor Peter Schweizer, “Is there a lot on this laptop? Because Democrats like to talk a lot about impeachment.” Schweizer, who was the first to allege that Biden had Shokin fired to benefit his son in his book Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends, responded, “There were a lot of deals that were on the table involving a lot of foreign entities” and claimed that Biden had exhibited “very corrupt behavior.” [Fox News, Hannity, 1/12/21; Media Matters, 9/26/19]
    • Former Fox News contributor Monica Crowley claimed that “we’d be on the 15th impeachment of Donald Trump” if Trump leveraged a billion taxpayer dollars to fire a prosecutor investigating his son. Hannity also added, “There was a quid pro quo expectation.” [Fox News, Hannity, 4/14/22]
    • Hannity warned Biden, “Impeachment may be in your future because you lied a lot.” [Fox News, Hannity, 10/18/22]
    • Fox host Mark Levin threatened to “turn on the Republican Party” if they didn’t investigate and impeach Biden: “What do you do with a bully? You hit them right between the eyes.” [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 11/9/22]
    • Hannity predicted Republicans would impeach Joe Biden in 2023, saying, “When you look at this evidence, it seems overwhelming where this is going.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 11/30/22]
    • Andy McCarthy, contributing editor at National Review, told Fox anchor Martha MacCallum that the framers of the Constitution included impeachment clauses partly because of “the possibility that the awesome powers of the presidency could fall under the influence of hostile foreign powers.” He then called on Congress “to get to the bottom of what the corruption evidence is.” [Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, 4/25/23]
    • Hannity questioned if there was “room for impeachment” if Biden personally benefited from Hunter’s foreign business dealings. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/26/23]
    • Fox legal analyst Gregg Jarrett claimed that Biden’s alleged crimes fit the description of the impeachment clause in the Constitution: “Treason. Bribery. High crimes and misdemeanors. That is a fitting description for Joe Biden.” He added that the Founding Fathers “were all deeply worried about a future Joe Biden.” [Fox News, Hannity, 4/26/23]
    • Watters claimed Biden family business partners Devon Archer and Tony Bobulinski alleged that “Joe Biden was aware of the business and met clients” and read texts from Hunter Biden to snark, “Those obviously weren’t ‘illusions’ Hunter was delivering.” He then laid out a “strategy” for House Republicans in their impeachment inquiry, instructing them to “leverage the evidence” gathered to threaten “a full blown impeachment” if Biden didn’t drop out of the 2024 election. Watters finished his plan, saying, “If Republicans time this right and follow the evidence where it leads, impeachment is going to run counter to the Trump trials next year.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 8/2/23]

  • Fox News personalities used unsubstantiated claims that Joe Biden is compromised by China to demand impeachment

    • On The Five, co-host Greg Gutfeld cited claims made by former Hunter Biden business associate Tony Bobulinski as evidence that Joe Biden was “selling influence for money” and argued that if Biden won the 2020 election, “impeachment proceedings start the day after inauguration.” [Fox News, The Five, 10/22/20]
    • The Five co-hosts Gutfeld and Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery floated impeaching Biden if he was elected, citing Bobulinski’s allegations that Joe Biden stood to profit from their proposed joint venture with a Chinese company. Montgomery blamed Democrats, saying, “This is what I warned about during the impeachment, is that, if you lower the bar so much, and if you create this simple threshold for impeachment, then you have to apply that universally to both sides. And if Tony Bobulinski is saying that Hunter Biden knew about all of this, if any of that is minutely proven and Joe Biden took a dime from any of that, then why wouldn't you, if you’re using the same threshold and the same standard, why would you not impeach Joe Biden?” [Media Matters, 10/30/20; Fox News, The Five, 10/28/20]
    • In response to Democrats calling for Trump’s impeachment following the January 6 insurrection (after he had already left office), Fox host Laura Ingraham scorned, “Are Democrats actually saying that it would have been constitutional for Republicans to have demanded articles of impeachment against former Vice President Joe Biden last year, over what he really knew about Hunter Biden's China payoff?” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 1/22/21]
    • After Schweizer accused the Bidens of taking money from “Chinese state-backed entities,” Jesse Watters lamented that “if there was a media in this country that would explore the tentacles of this situation, this man would be impeached or he'd be shamed out of office.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 5/30/22]
    • Mark Levin cited a Washington Free Beacon article accusing the Biden administration of awarding a grant to a “China-based battery company,” then said, “He is a corrupt SOB. The idea that he's not under investigation or no threat of impeachment just is unbelievable.” The Chinese government does not have any ownership in the company, Microvast, which is based in Texas. [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 12/12/22]
    • Watters suggested gifts Hunter Biden received, such as “diamonds from the Chinese communists,” would undoubtedly influence “anything the president’s doing as commander in chief.” Bongino added, “I mean, Jesse, the obvious thing to say, ‘Well, if it was Donald Trump —’ I mean, of course, it would — we'd have our 15th impeachment by now.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 2/23/22]
    • Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich asserted that Biden selling crude oil from the American oil reserve to a Chinese company connected to Hunter Biden was “a clear open-and-shut scandal and probably an impeachable offense.” It is not. The Biden administration was selling crude oil to lower global prices by increasing supply around the world and, by law, the government awarded contracts to the highest bidders. Moreover, according to a 2021 statement by Hunter Biden’s lawyer, Hunter Biden “no longer [held] any interest, directly or indirectly” in BHR, the private investment fund that had business dealings with Sinopec, the Chinese company in question. [Fox News, Hannity, 7/18/22; The Washington Post, 7/12/22; The New York Times, 11/20/21]
    • Watters restated the claim that nine Biden family members received bribes from the Chinese and added, “It doesn't matter if you don't pay Joe, if you pay the whole family. And then the whole family pays for houses and cars and tuition. That's a bribe. And that's an impeachable offense.” He then demanded that Republicans “open up an impeachment inquiry to get to the bottom of this corruption.” [Fox News, The Five, 6/9/23]

  • Fox News personalities demanded impeachment after the 2021 evacuation of U.S. forces from Afghanistan

    • During a segment in which Jesse Watters applied Democrats’ descriptions of Donald Trump’s first impeachment allegations to Biden’s retreat from Afghanistan, Dan Bongino agreed that Biden “should be impeached or should resign immediately.” Bongino justified the impeachment by arguing the retreat was “the single dumbest commander-in-chief decision, Jesse, in the history of sentient beings, not just the United States.” [Fox News, Fox News Primetime, 8/25/21]
    • Regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal, Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe chided that “Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell need to grow a pair and bring articles of impeachment of this guy.” She continued, “Not only did [Biden’s] incompetence get 13 Marines killed, he has now left Americans behind.” [Fox News, Gutfeld!, 9/1/21]
    • Declaring that Biden’s communication regarding the decision to evacuate Afghanistan was “unethical,” Gutfeld conjectured that it probably did not rise to “impeachment level” before seemingly contradicting himself and saying that “people should be shouting for impeachment.” [Fox News, The Five, 9/2/21]
    • Former Fox News host and current contributor Steve Hilton listed the consequences of Biden’s departure from Afghanistan and declared, “If all of that isn't impeachable, I don't know what is.” He continued, “This must be a litmus test for Republicans.” [Fox News, The Next Revolution, 9/5/21]
    • Lara Trump, former Fox News contributor and daughter-in-law of 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, challenged Republicans to “get some guts” and “put forward impeachment against Joe Biden.” Trump rationalized her call by describing the evacuation of Afghanistan and concluded by saying, “I don’t know a better reason to impeach somebody. So let’s take this guy out.” [Fox News, Hannity, 9/7/21]
    • In 2022, Hilton again claimed that “Biden should have been impeached over Afghanistan.” He added that Biden should also “be removed with the 25th Amendment over his obvious senility.” [Fox News, The Next Revolution, 1/16/22]
    • Jeanine Pirro argued that Biden doesn’t care about Americans in danger overseas, whether in Afghanistan or Russia, and that “that alone should be enough” for impeachment. [Fox News, The Five, 2/11/22]

  • Fox News personalities demanded impeachment over Joe Biden’s border policy

    • Laura Ingraham called the border “a crisis of Biden’s own making” and “the worst dereliction of duty of any president in modern times.” Ingraham ended her rant with a call to impeach Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “for the crime of conspiring to keep the southern border open during a national health emergency.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 5/17/21]
    • Levin instructed the Republican Party to impeach Joe Biden over his border policy instead of “whin[ing]” themselves “to death.” He chided, “The I-word, impeachment. Let's start to talk about it. Or the 25th Amendment — it'll never happen, but let's start to talk about it.” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/4/21]
    • Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Pirro called for Biden’s impeachment over the border: “This is dereliction of duty.” Pirro lamented, “But then, of course, we're left with Vice President Kamala Harris.” [Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine, 10/16/21]
    • Former Fox host Tucker Carlson accused Biden of “actively and intentionally breaking federal law” regarding the border, then demanded to know, “Why hasn’t he been impeached?” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 10/25/21]
    • Ingraham asked, “When the President conspires to subvert the sovereignty of his own country, how could that not be grounds for impeachment?” Ingraham continued talks of impeachment with Fox contributor Charlie Hurt, focusing on his article in the Washington Times, “Impeach Biden over border treason.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 4/8/22]
    • After attacking Biden over the border, Carlson asked Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), “Why is this not a crime that's being prosecuted? Why isn't the president being impeached?” Biggs responded, “Well, I think he should be.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 7/5/22]
    • Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich expressed hope that House Republicans would hold Mayorkas and Biden accountable for the border, stating, “If that means impeaching him, so be it.” Fox contributor Jason Chaffetz agreed, “Impeachment may be the very answer, the only answer that’s left at the table here.” [Fox News, Hannity, 11/18/22]
    • Sen. Graham accused Biden of “surrender[ing] the border,” then expressed hope that “House Republicans will start hearings and will put on the table impeaching people responsible for this.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 12/2/22]
    • Levin attacked Republicans for not wanting to impeach Biden over his border policy: “Who's talking about impeaching and removing Joe Biden? The Republicans aren't. Handful of people. Handful of people. The Republican Senate — not in the least. Nothing. That's why they're losers, and that's why they shouldn't be in the majority. Why should they be?” [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 12/15/22]
    • Levin stated that he wanted to “pressure” Republicans to impeach Biden over the border. [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 1/9/23]
    • On The Sean Hannity Show, Fox contributor Sara Carter accused the Biden administration of “aiding and abetting narcotics traffickers and human traffickers,” adding, “If anybody should be impeached, all we need to do is take a look at President Biden and the policies that are in place right now.” She continued, “Our lawmakers, both in Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, should be standing up for the American people. The only job that President Biden has to do is protect the national security of the United States of America, and he's failing miserably at it. So maybe our lawmakers need to take a look at that and do something to protect the American people, Sean.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 5/1/23]
    • In response to Hannity’s spiel about Biden “aiding and abetting in the law-breaking by allowing these people into this country illegally,” Fox contributor Leo Terrell said, “You just drafted the first article of impeachment for Joe Biden … because he should be impeached.” [Fox News, Hannity, 5/2/23]
    • Ingraham demanded that Congress “step in” over the end of Title 42 and called for Mayorkas’ impeachment, adding, “Biden should be impeached over this as well.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 5/12/23]

  • Fox News personalities distorted facts surrounding classified document recovery to demand impeachment

    • Fox host Emily Compagno blamed “the apologist media'' for supposedly telling Americans to “look the other way,” after Obama-era classified documents were found at the Penn Biden Center. The documents were voluntarily returned to the National Archives, but Compagno added, “No wonder half of Congress is calling for an impeachment.” [Fox News, Outnumbered, 1/10/23]
    • Fox host Sean Duffy compared Biden’s classified documents case to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago and suggested the president should be impeached. Duffy said, “Many of them said Donald Trump was a traitor, right? And being a traitor is punishable by death. I'm not suggesting death for Joe Biden, but should the Republican congress use the Democrat standard? And if Joe Biden, then, is a traitor, should he be impeached?” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 1/13/23]
    • Invoking accusations of treason made against Donald Trump after the Mar-a-Lago raid, Duffy again called for Biden’s impeachment over classified documents. He said, “Let's forget about the Department of Justice and the special counsel. We have a Republican House. You can't have a traitor in the White House, Dan. We need to impeach Joe Biden, not by my standard, not by your standard, but by the Democrats' standard.” [Fox News, Unfiltered with Dan Bongino, 1/14/23]

  • Fox News personalities blamed OPEC oil cuts on Biden to demand impeachment

    • After OPEC announced an oil production cut, Levin claimed Biden “wants you to attack the Saudi government for what he and his party are doing” and instructed Republicans to impeach him. The cut was against the wishes of Biden administration officials, but right-wing media blamed Biden. Levin pushed for impeachment: “The Republicans who are serious and substantive, who are making lists of impeachable offenses, this is one where Joe Biden is using oil and energy policy to try and help the Democrat Party.” [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 10/12/22]
    • After Laura Ingraham accused the Biden administration of “attempt[ing] to pressure a foreign government to influence the outcome of the U.S. election,” Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway said, “By the standards set by Democrats and the media, he obviously should be impeached and he obviously should be immediately convicted.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 10/13/22]
    • During a segment characterizing Biden’s summer meeting with the Saudis as “election interference,” Greg Gutfeld said Biden “should be impeached” for requesting a delay in OPEC production cuts. He disappointedly remarked that “Republicans probably will not impeach Joe Biden,” to which Jesse Watters replied, “We’ll just impeach him for something else.” [Fox News, The Five, 10/14/22]
    • Dan Bongino called Biden “the worst president we’ve seen in modern U.S. history,” and compared Biden’s request to the Saudi government to delay oil production cuts to Donald Trump’s first impeachment. He said, “Donald Trump was impeached for allegedly asking for political favors in exchange for some national security compromise,” implying that Biden himself should be impeached. [Fox News, Unfiltered with Dan Bongino, 10/22/22]

  • Fox News personalities used policy disagreements, misplaced blame, and fabricated scandals to demand the impeachment of Joe Biden

    • Jesse Watters called Hunter Biden’s laptop “a roadmap to impeachment” after alleging a media cover-up to protect Joe Biden’s presidency. [Fox News, Watters’ World, 6/12/21]
    • Fox News guest Jim Hanson mused that it could be “time to remove him [Biden]” for “escalating the war in Ukraine,” either by “go[ing] to the 25th Amendment” or by “impeach[ing] him as soon as the Republicans take control.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 3/25/22]
    • After the draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade leaked, Steve Hilton said Biden “should be impeached” for “brazenly incit[ing] mobs to disrupt the proceedings of the Supreme Court for partisan ends.” [Fox News, The Next Revolution, 5/8/22]
    • Former Trump senior policy advisor and white nationalist Stephen Miller declared that the 2022 baby formula shortage “justifies Joe Biden’s impeachment.” Watters agreed with the misplaced blame: “That’s right. Impeach 46 over the formula.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 5/13/22]
    • Reacting to Biden’s call to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, Mollie Hemingway said, “That really is an impeachable offense to talk this way against something so foundational to the country.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 6/2/22]
    • Gutfeld theorized, “If Joe had Trump’s media treatment… they probably would have impeached him four to five times.” He then listed the Afghanistan withdrawal, the baby formula shortage, Hunter Biden, and the border as justifiable reasons for Biden’s impeachment: “They would have found an impeachment for every single screw up.” [Fox News, The Five, 6/9/22]
    • Fox host Maria Bartiromo asked Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) if he would support impeaching Biden over the Twitter Files: “You're talking about a task force of 80 FBI agents just solely focused on amplifying lies and suppressing truth. … If you find that there was actual evidence of wrongdoing, will you support impeaching Joe Biden?” Donalds replied, “That’s something that will happen.” [Fox News, Sunday Morning Futures, 1/8/23]

  • Fox News personalities demanded Biden’s impeachment in response to Trump’s impeachment and investigation, with some calling specifically for retribution

    • During the 2020 presidential campaign, Fox host Ainsley Earhardt quoted Donald Trump saying “quid pro quo” and “impeach them” in reference to Democratic candidates and she said doing so would be “a dose of their own medicine.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/3/20]
    • In response to Trump’s second impeachment, Sean Hannity called for the impeachment of Joe Biden, then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). Hannity explained, “If we apply the Democratic Party standards on impeachment,” then Congress “should immediately be filing articles of impeachment.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 1/14/21]
    • Hannity repeated the same sentiment on his prime-time Fox News show. Hannity listed a couple instances in which he claimed Democrats aimed to inspire violence and asked, “Is that not incitement to insurrection?” [Fox News, Hannity, 2/12/21]
    • Mark Levin argued that because Democrats “impeached Trump for nothing,” Republicans should impeach Biden for what he “has unleashed on the American people.” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/18/21]
    • Jeanine Pirro asked, “Will the Republicans have the chutzpah to do what the Democrats did” because “there are a lot of issues that Joe Biden could be impeached on.” [Fox News, The Five, 10/6/21]
    • Fox News contributor Joe Concha described his dream surprise prediction in the next year: “The G.O.P. names Donald Trump speaker of the House. … Trump then, as House speaker, launches impeachment proceedings against the president and vice president.” He continued, “Somehow those succeed, which means the speaker of the House, him, is now president.” Concha cautioned that he was “100 percent kidding about this,” then added, “Well, maybe. I don't know. It's Trump — it could happen.” [Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine, 1/1/22]
    • Greg Gutfeld said, “America still has a choice to make. … Do we impeach [Biden] now or invoke the 25th Amendment?” [Fox News, Gutfeld!, 6/15/22]
    • After the FBI seized classified documents from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, frequent Fox News guest Victor Davis Hanson speculated that Trump’s impeachment could be “boomeranged” on Biden. Hanson said, “We have this precedent now that if you are a two-term -- going to be a two-term president, you're going impeached as soon as you lose the House in your first term. Is that going to be boomeranged on the Democrats?” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 8/8/22]
    • Jesse Watters complained that “Trump was impeached because he asked someone to investigate Biden. He just asked.” He continued: “Biden actually opens a criminal investigation into Donald Trump. How is that not an abuse of power?” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 9/6/22]
    • Levin criticized his Fox colleagues who opposed impeaching Biden: “You are dead wrong.” He continued, “It's to punish him as the Constitution provides. The Democrats used impeachment at the drop of a hat. … It's not a matter of getting even, although an eye for an eye isn't necessarily a bad thing.” [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 10/18/22]
    • Levin demanded that Republicans “put on the brass knuckles” and impeach Biden: “The only way to stop this tyranny is to use their tactics against them. And God knows Joe Biden has committed many impeachable offenses.” [Westwood One, The Mark Levin Show, 10/19/22]
    • Gutfeld said, “The only way to get certain Democrats to behave” is to “fight fire with fire,” and encouraged Republicans to stop “turning the other cheek,” to which Watters responded, “And that’s why you have to impeach Joe Biden.” Pirro added, “That’s true equity.” [Fox News, The Five, 2/3/23]
    • After news broke of Donald Trump’s Manhattan indictment, Dan Bongino complained that “you have actual evidence of a criminal enterprise Joe Biden Inc. is running” but “you don’t hear me on the air every night screaming for Joe Biden to get locked up and impeached.” He immediately followed that statement with “I’d love to see him impeached.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 3/30/23]

  • Fox News personalities used the same contrived tactics to justify an impeachment of Barack Obama

    • Then-Fox News contributor Dick Morris claimed that former President Barack Obama’s alleged job offer to Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) in exchange for dropping out of a U.S. Senate primary race was an “impeachable offense.” Sestak had claimed that the former president had offered him a White House job in exchange for dropping his primary challenge against former Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA). Legal and ethics experts dismissed Morris’ claim that such an offer would be illegal or warrant impeachment. [Media Matters, 5/25/10]
    • Sean Hannity called the Sestak incident a “de facto bribe” and an “impeachable offense.” [Fox News, Hannity, 5/24/10]
    • Amid the Arab Spring, Fox contributor Tammy Bruce claimed that Obama was “up to his elbows in an Islamist takeover of Egypt” and argued that the former president “should be impeached” if he had “secretly facilitated or *encouraged* an Islamist takeover of Egypt.” [Twitter/X, 2/1/11, 2/1/11]
    • Fox contributor Gregg Jarrett suggested Obama instructing law enforcement to use prosecutorial discretion in some immigration cases might be an impeachable offense. Jarrett suggested that Obama had betrayed his constitutional duty to “faithfully” execute the law by electing to prioritize deporting immigrants who had committed crimes ahead of those who had not. Jarrett then drew a comparison between Obama and impeached former President Andrew Johnson. “There was another president, Andrew Johnson, who was impeached for a very similar reason,” Jarrett said. [Fox News, Studio B, 8/19/11]
    • Fox Business promoted a list of “12 impeachable offenses” Obama had supposedly committed. The list, provided by Seth Rich conspiracy theorist and former Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), included such offenses as Obama refusing “to secure the border” to get “amnesty” for those living without legal permission in the United States and “contempt for the Constitution.” [Fox Business, Follow the Money, 9/23/11]
    • On Hannity’s radio show, Levin accused Obama of several “impeachable offenses,” including obstructing “states from making sure that only people who are allowed to vote can vote” to “fix” elections. “We have a President of the United States who is intentionally using the legal system to obstruct states from making sure that only people who are allowed to vote can vote as a concerted effort to try and fix the outcome of election,” Levin said. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 6/29/12]
    • Former Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano argued that Obama’s implementation of certain spending cuts were “almost an impeachable offense.” “If the president is deciding to spend money in order to hurt us, rather than in order to provide us with the services for which we have paid, and for which we have hired him, he is doing the opposite of what he has taken an oath to do,” Napolitano said. [Fox News, Fox and Friends, 2/26/13]
    • On TheBlaze, former Fox host Glenn Beck called for the appointment of a special counsel to “explore impeachment” for supposedly ordering the IRS to target conservative groups. “It is time to appoint a special counsel to explore impeachment of this president,” Beck said, referencing a since-debunked scandal about the IRS withholding tax-exempt status from tea party organizations. [Right Wing Watch, 5/13/13; Media Matters, 9/30/19; The Washington Post, 10/5/17]
    • Beck also called for Obama’s impeachment for “arming known terrorists” in Syria. Beck was responding to reports that the Obama White House had decided to send “non-lethal assistance” to Syrian rebel groups. [Politico, 9/18/13]
    • National Review writer and current Fox contributor Andrew McCarthy wrote a book titled Faithless Execution: Building The Political Case For Obama's Impeachment. The book cited Benghazi, the Affordable Health Care Act, and, bizarrely, the Justice Department’s treatment of the New Black Panther Party as reasons for impeachment. [Media Matters, 6/3/14, 9/30/19]
    • Jeanine Pirro called Benghazi the “biggest cover-up since Watergate” and argued that Obama's “dereliction of duty as commander-in-chief demands [his] impeachment.” [Fox Nation, 5/5/14; Media Matters, 7/28/14]
    • A month later, Pirro again called for Obama’s impeachment, suggesting that the former president had agreed to a prisoner exchange as an “excuse to release five Taliban terrorists from Gitmo.” Pirro ended the segment arguing that Obama was “destroying this country” and asserted that his actions “demand impeachment.” [Fox News Insider, 6/8/14; Media Matters, 7/28/14]
    • Then-Fox News contributor and former Republican congressman Allen West used the supposedly ”growing” movement to impeach Obama to solicit donations for his political action committee. In fundraising emails, West claimed a “growing” impeachment movement was “gaining speed!” and asserted that Obama is “guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors,” citing a Breitbart op-ed penned by former Sarah Palin in which the former Alaska governor called for Obama’s removal from office for what she called an “unsecure border crisis.” [Media Matters, 7/11/14]