During an interview on MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki on Sunday (April 23), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) shared her opinion on a litany of topics, including Fox News’ recently multi-million settlement. AOC also spoke on how she believes the network should be held accountable for inciting violence.
When asked by Psaki, a former White House press secretary, about the $787.5 million that Fox News must pay Dominion Voting Systems to avoid a defamation trial for its role in disseminating false information about the 2020 election, Ocasio-Cortez said it would’ve been “best for the country” if the case went to trial. She believes Fox News should have acknowledged that it lied to its viewers when a handful of its hosts alleged that Dominion’s voting machines changed the result of the election in favor of Joe Biden.
Ocasio-Cortez pointed to the root of Fox News’ problem, which is the fact that the network allows people to go on air and say whatever they want, including speech that incites violence like the kind that occurred on January 6, 2020.
“We have very real issues with what is permissible on air,” she said. “We saw that with Jan. 6, and we saw that in the lead up to Jan. 6 and how we navigate questions – not just a freedom of speech but also accountability for incitement of violence. This is the line that we have to really explore through law as well.”
Ocasio-Cortez described what former Fox News host Tucker Carlson did on his program as “very clearly incitement of violence” and how “that is the line that I think we have to be willing to contend with.”
On Monday (April 24), Carlson, a conspiracy theorist and right-wing extremist, was fired by Fox News without warning. Fox did not explain why they cut ties with Carlson. But it had AOC responding with “Wow” on her Twitter. She followed that up by retweeting a clip from her interview.
Watch the full interview with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez below.