Fox anchor hypes “tons of ballots” found under a rock in Arizona. There were only 18 ballots, and all were delivered.

On Fox Business, anchor Maria Bartiromo told Varney & Co. host Stuart Varney the morning after the presidential election that “there's a lot of conversation about fraud. .... I just saw a Newsweek story [saying] that there were tons of ballots found under a rock in Arizona.” 

The article in question explains that there were 18 mail-in ballots (not “tons”) stolen from local mailboxes of people waiting to receive them, police believe, and hidden under several rocks. Authorities have no motive or suspect, but all of the ballots were discovered still sealed and correctly delivered prior to Election Day.

The office of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich released a statement that read in part:

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) and the Glendale Police Department (Glendale PD) worked together to deliver more than a dozen stolen ballots back to Glendale residents this weekend.

On Friday afternoon, a worker located a stack of unopened mail-in ballots hidden under a rock located off 99th and Glendale avenues. The individual contacted the Glendale Police Department and responding officers located 18 ballots. According to investigators, the ballots were stolen from individual mailboxes in a neighborhood just south of 107th and Northern avenues (in between Vista Avenue and Kaler Drive). The envelopes were still sealed.

On Saturday, AGO agents and Glendale PD hand-delivered the ballots back to the registered voters. It is possible there are additional victims. The motive for stealing the ballots is presently unknown. At this time, the investigation is still ongoing and no arrests have been made.

Fox News was created to protect and defend a president just like Donald Trump, as Trump openly recognizes, and with the results of the 2020 presidential election still unknown, Fox is already undermining the ballot-counting process in its quest to reelect him. Guests or contributors are already defending Trump’s premature claim of victory, accusing the Pennsylvania attorney general of election fraud for wanting all legally cast votes counted, and demanding federal investigations and Trump campaign lawsuits against states won by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. And now a Fox anchor is suggesting widespread fraud off of a simple headline.

Video file

Citation From the November 4, 2020, edition of Fox Business' Varney & Co.

MARIA BARTIROMO (FOX BUSINESS ANCHOR): There's a lot of conversation about fraud, Stuart. I mean, you know, I just saw a Newsweek story that there were tons of ballots found under a rock in Arizona. The Philadelphia situation where they stopped down in the middle of the night last night also being questioned. It's not a good look for America, but we’ll get to the bottom of it as the lawyers take charge now. 

STUART VARNEY (HOST, VARNEY & CO.): You know, you have a unique talent for wrapping up -- just like Susan [Li] -- all these various strands of information. You bring it all together and make it comprehensible.