Harris Faulkner's On-Air Mistake With Donald Trump Is Raising Eyebrows
Harris Faulkner's recent interview with former President Donald Trump on Fox News had several moments that may have raised eyebrows. Not only did Trump repeat nearly word for word one of his more famous rants about immigrants, which the Washington Post has noted as a cornerstone of Trumpism, but he also took the opportunity to claim once again that he won the 2020 Presidential election (he didn't) while receiving no pushback from Faulkner on that falsehood. As reported by Business Insider, Trump's 2020 election losses include not just the electoral college, but the popular vote, several recounts, and dozens of court cases challenging the election results. And yet, when Trump said on air that he had won the election, there was no fact check to be had.
One moment that did merit a correction however, was a bizarre incident when Faulkner interrupted her interview with the former President to falsely report that Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had resigned. When she relayed the "news" on air, Trump celebrated, saying, "Good. I'm not surprised. That's a victory for our country" (via Yahoo News).
Harris Faulkner Falsely reported — then recanted — Secretary Mayorkas' resignation
Almost mid-sentence, Faulkner interrupted the interview, to say, "This has just happened now and I want to double check this with our producers" then paused an extra moment to remove her glasses and look straight a the camera before saying, "The DHS secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, has resigned, Mr. President" (via Yahoo News).
While Trump celebrated on air, Faulkner appeared to be listening to her earpiece where presumably producers had corrected her statement, and then said "Hold on. Let me stop, let me stop. Let me listen to my team one more time. Forgive me. Forgive me. That has not happened but — I apologize" (via CNN). Trump laughed at the correction and replied, "Well, we'll cross that victory off."
It's unclear what led to Faulkner's mistake, but a spokesperson for Fox News told the Daily Beast, "The error stemmed from an audio issue in a virtual working environment. We corrected the mistake and continued on with the interview." While blaming technology and miscommunications is simple, it still doesn't quite account for why Faulkner lied mid broadcast, or why she allowed Trump to once again, spread lies about the 2020 election. There is no evidence of an impending resignation from Secretary Mayorkas.