What stands out most as one sifts through the Smartmatic filings is that almost all the Fox employees shown enacting this “pivot” kept their jobs and were even promoted. While some have left the network over the past year, they did so to join Trump’s second administration. Meanwhile, those depicted as trying to stand up for facts were largely purged. With hindsight, it’s easy to see that since airing deceit after the 2020 election, Fox has solidified an incentive structure in which staffers are rewarded for propping up Trump and everything he does, while they risk consequences only for breaking with that edict.

The documents show Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO and co-chairman of Fox’s parent company, and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott supporting Fox News host Jeanine Pirro’s uncensored return to the network’s airwaves, a platform she used to push election conspiracy theories. After Murdoch’s father, Rupert, retired in 2023, Lachlan ascended to chair of Fox Corp., while Scott retained her position.

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This obvious disparity sent a clear message to Fox’s employees: If you deviate from the MAGA script, you put your career at risk, but if you follow it, you will be rewarded. That incentive structure has echoed down through Fox’s coverage ever since, as the network hollowed out its “news” side, propped up Trump’s return to the leadership of the Republican Party and then the White House, and served as a megaphone for an administration stocked with former colleagues.