Fox News drew scrutiny Tuesday night for an on-air graphic that appeared to call President Joe Biden a “wannabe dictator.”
In a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for the network said: “The chyron was taken down immediately and was addressed.”
The spokesperson did not respond to an email that asked whether there would be any consequences for the staff members behind the text in the graphic, known as a chyron.
Hours after former President Donald Trump's arraignment in Miami, the network aired a split screen of video from Biden’s remarks at a Juneteenth event at the White House and Trump’s speech in New Jersey. Trump addressed supporters at his golf club in Bedminster after he pleaded not guilty to federal charges of mishandling classified documents.
Around 9 p.m. ET, the all-caps text at the bottom of the screen on the network read: “Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested.”
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hit back at the White House news briefing Wednesday.
“So, there are probably about 787 million things that I can say about this that was wrong about what we saw last night, but I don’t think I’m going to get into it,” she told reporters.
Her comments about “787 million” were in reference to the settlement in April between Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News, in which Fox agreed to pay $787.5 million in a defamation lawsuit.
Trump's allies have rallied to his defense by echoing his grievances that the indictment was a politically charged move.
A federal grand jury indicted Trump last week for allegedly misleading federal investigators in his attempt to hold on to sensitive material he knew was still classified. Federal officials accuse Trump of breaking seven laws in the mishandling of more than 100 classified documents recovered from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in August.
He faces 37 counts on the seven charges, including making false statements, conspiracy to obstruct and willful retention of national defense information. Trump’s personal aide, Walt Nauta, was also indicted on six counts, including conspiracy to obstruct and making false statements. Nauta has not been able to enter a plea, and his lawyer, Stan Woodward, has declined to comment on his charges.
Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the case and has characterized his indictment as a political hit job led by the Biden administration to undermine his re-election bid. Biden has remained silent about the case.
