CPAC’s annual conference will undoubtedly be a festival of Big Election Lies and the Murdoch family’s Fox Nation is helping to foot the bill to the tune of $250,000.
The Daily Beast notes that last year, Fox Nation only spent $28,000 sponsoring CPAC. So why ten times more this year? Probably because, as we’ve previously reported, Fox Nation has not been successful at turning Fox viewers into subscribers. Also, as has been widely reported, Fox News is struggling in the ratings while those of competitor Newsmax are booming.
More from The Daily Beast:
The CPAC schedule, which runs from Thursday night through Sunday afternoon, begins with a Fox Nation-hosted welcoming reception for attendees and features speeches by such presidential-election denialists as Donald Trump Jr., Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, along with panels featuring Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks—like the Trumps, Hawley and Cruz, a pugnacious orator who riled up the mob before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol—and former Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a paid Fox News contributor.
The Daily Beast also notes that Chaffetz’s panel is “one of seven specifically devoted to supposed widespread election fraud.”
Fox News promises “uninterrupted coverage and live streaming” of the conference, “a special 30 day free trial with promo code CPAC,” and “a live daily recap program hosted by Tomi Lahren and Lawrence Jones.” According to Fox, other Fox personalities to appear at the conference are Jason Chaffetz, Larry Kudlow, Dan Bongino, Pete Hegseth, and Sara Carter.
Several current Fox staffers who spoke to The Daily Beast reacted to the news of Fox’s sponsorship with “a collective rolling of eyes” and even outrage. One said, ““Fox is indefensible at this point as it has become a channel for the GOP… well, more than usual. So many employees at Fox don't even support half the shit the channel does or says… It isn’t right, but Fox has rarely been on the right side of history and ethics.” Another staffer said, “CPAC is the Fox audience so it makes sense that they would have a presence there.”
You can count on Fox News and Fox Business to provide oodles of gushing coverage of the conference, too.
(CPAC image via screen grab)
Shouldn’t that be against the law?
At the very least, their channel should be required to create a box on the screen to inform viewers of said financing.