In an introduction to an interview with Gov. Katie Hobbs, Fox’s Shannon Bream gave credence to election lies and failed to acknowledge that Hobbs was legitimately elected.

Here’s how Bream introduced the interview with Hobbs, the Democratic governor of Arizona, in what was obviously a scripted introduction:

BREAM: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs was sworn in just about a month ago. Hobbs flipped the state from red to blue in November after a hard-fought race.

The introduction could have stopped there but Bream (probably reading from someone else’s script) continued by suggesting that maybe Hobbs did not really win:

BREAM: She faced off against Republican Kari Lake, an ally of former President Donald Trump. Lake had embraced his controversial claims about the 2020 election. So now, Arizona has a Democratic governor, as well as Democratic Senator, Mark Kelly, and a Democrat turned independent senator in Kyrsten Sinema.

Fox News Sunday has at least tacitly acknowledged that Trump legitimately lost the 2020 presidential election. The fact that it now faces billions of dollars in defamation lawsuits for promoting the Big Lie probably had more to do with the acknowledgment than the truth.

But Fox has also continued to suggest that viewers should not trust our election process and to endorse election deniers.

As for Kari Lake, she lost Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial election by 17,000 votes. She also lost a subsequent lawsuit that sought to overturn the election results. She still refuses to concede, making her Runner Up for Top Sore Loser in the U.S.

It speaks volumes that Fox News Sunday failed to note that. Ditto for its failure to call Hobbs the winner. It's also noteworthy that Bream never discussed Lake’s refusal to concede with Hobbs, thus leaving her unable to rebut it.

Fox’s clip of the interview did not include the introduction, which is in the first video below. The actual interview focused on right-wing issues, such as the border and included suggestions that Hobbs’ policies are creating a draw for more illegal immigrants, a promotion of school vouchers and, briefly, promoting Republicans’ sudden, since-Biden concerns about the national debt.

I thought Hobbs handled the questions very well. But never underestimate Fox News’ ability to weaponize any interview. The network titled the Hobbs’ interview: “Democrat gov. blames fed government for kicking the can 'down the road.'” It was a suggestion that Biden is at fault, without noting Congress’ failure to meaningfully address immigration issues.

There were no questions about Fox’s big midterm issue, violent crime. Also, nothing about infrastructure, climate change (a problem in AZ) or improving health care.

Despite my criticisms of Bream, she’s actually OK, in my view. I consider her probably the best of the so-called news anchors on the network. This interview highlights how Biden would have faced similar propaganda, only much worse, had he agreed to a pre-Super Bowl interview yesterday, no matter which Fox News “news” person asked the questions.

You can watch it below, from the February 12, 2023 Fox News Sunday.