Following the release of a memorandum detailing parts of President Donald Drumpf’s July 25 call with the president of Ukraine, Fox News’ response was nearly identical to talking points provided by the White House.
White House talking points that were circulated claimed that “press reports have given currency to flat-out falsehoods about the call” and zeroed in on a few alleged examples, including reporting that Drumpf urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “eight times” to investigate his potential 2020 campaign opponent, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Another White House talking point claimed, “Myth: The President offered a ‘quid pro quo.’” A third talking point outlined by the White House was that there was no “promise” made.
All three of those talking points were explicitly pushed by Fox News during its September 25 reporting following the release of the call memorandum, including using the White House’s suggested framing that questioned and cast doubt on earlier reports.
White House talking point: “Myth: The President urged President Zelenskyy ... to investigate Biden's involvement in securing the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor eight times.”
Fox hosts fixated throughout the morning’s reporting on the fact that former Vice President Biden wasn’t explicitly mentioned exactly eight times in the call summary released by the White House. It was the “key thing” immediately mentioned by Fox’s chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge, and Fox News’ chief anchor Bret Baier echoed the same talking point when he noted: “I don’t see eight times Joe Biden being mentioned, I count three, tangentially. So some of the early reporting may have been something different.”