After Fox News spent at least two days promoting House Oversight Chairman James Comer’s (R-KY) so-called “Judgment Day” press conference on the allegedly corrupt business deals of Biden family members and associates, complete with a countdown clock, some at the network are acknowledging that it was a flop.

Politico reported that a memo from Republican oversight committee staff “focused on payments linked to Romania and China” and said that “Biden family members, business associates or related companies received more than $10 million in total from companies run by foreign nationals.” But Politico also noted that the GOP lawmakers “stopped short of calling any of the activity potentially illegal” and lacked “a smoking gun that directly links President Joe Biden” to any corruption. Politico also reported that Comer has “already faced plenty of doubt, including from some within his own party, that he can back up his promises to show Biden’s connection to family business dealings.” 

The New York Times similarly reported that Comer’s team acknowledged that it “had yet to uncover incriminating material” about the president, and “had yet to find evidence of a specific corrupt action Mr. Biden took in office in connection with any of the business deals his son entered into.” And The Associated Press stated: “Up until now, Comer and Republicans have not publicly revealed evidence to substantiate their claims of wrongdoing by the Biden family.”

Some at Fox seem to agree.

• Fox reporter David Spunt admitted on the May 10 edition of Special Report, “Comer and his team did not share any evidence that any payments went directly into the pockets of Joe Biden.”
• On May 11, Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy said to Comer while interviewing him about his presser: “You actually don't have any facts to that point. You’ve got some circumstantial evidence. And the other thing is, of all those names, the one person who didn't profit is — there’s no evidence that Joe Biden did anything illegally.”
• Later in the show, Doocy added: “The curious part is, apparently there is no proof, no evidence that Joe Biden personally did anything illegal. And Republicans have been looking; they just can't find it. … The evidence part is missing. They’ve got a narrative, but they’ve got no evidence.”
• And in a friendlier interview with Comer later that morning, Fox anchor Harris Faulkner said: “The big question today is when will we see evidence that links Joe Biden to all of what you found?”

This skepticism stands in stark contrast to Fox's heavy advance promotion of Comer's press conference, which seemed to promise a scandal that could sink the Biden presidency. Over two days prior to the presser, Fox interviewed Comer multiple times, aired graphics that promoted his claim that the revelations would prove to be “Judgment Day” for the Biden administration, and even displayed a countdown clock:

• On May 9, Fox & Friends First interviewed Comer to promote his presser, during which he called it “Judgment Day.”
• Fox host Jesse Watters also interviewed Comer on May 9, framing his conference as “what we expect to be a bombshell press conference tomorrow, where we expect we are going to see some hard evidence that could show this thing goes all the way up to Joe Biden.”
• On May 10, Fox & Friends First opened with a “Fox News Alert” on Comer’s upcoming presser, showing an image of both the Bidens and Comer and the words “Judgment Day.”
• Later in the show, Fox & Friends First began airing a countdown clock to Comer’s presser.
• Following this program, Fox & Friends also opened by pushing Comer’s “Judgment Day” framing.
• Fox & Friends interviewed Comer to hype his presser, with Doocy emphasizing that the GOP had to show proof of wrongdoing: “And have you found out, Congressman, that any of the Bidens broke any rules? Did they break any laws? Because, ultimately, that's what the American people want to know. If they broke laws, they should be held accountable. But you've got to be able to prove they broke laws. Can you do that?”