The morning after his network called the Arizona governor’s race for Democrat Katie Hobbs, Fox News correspondent Kevin Corke seemed to cast doubt on the results while reassuring viewers that MAGA candidate Kari Lake still had an outside shot to win.
At the same time, he repeatedly mocked the presumptive next governor of Arizona, throwing barbs at Hobbs while delivering a news report on Tuesday morning.
Nearly a week after the polls closed, Hobbs was finally declared the winner on Monday evening in the contentious race after vote tallies showed Lake would not be able to make up the margin of difference. Lake, a fervent Donald Trump supporter who made election denialism a central theme of her campaign, naturally called “BS” on Hobbs’ win. (As did Trump and other far-right figures.)
During Tuesday morning’s broadcast of Trump’s favorite morning show Fox & Friends, Corke was brought on to deliver a news segment on the results. And he kicked off his report by delivering a healthy dose of copium.
“Now, the truth is some really want that gubernatorial race in Arizona to be over and done with, we can all move on,” Corke declared about the election that Fox had projected hours earlier. “But if that final tally ends up within a half of a percentage point, we could actually see a recount.”
Turning his attention to the governor-elect, the longtime Fox correspondent then ridiculed Hobbs for refusing to debate Lake while suggesting she laid low and hid during the campaign.
“And that could happen, but for the moment, all we do know is Katie Hobbs—who wouldn't debate and some even argue barely campaigned—still managed to have the ground game to draw over a million votes,” he said in a mocking tone. “And just enough apparently to beat Kari Lake in the gubernatorial race in the Grand Canyon state.”
Corke snarkily added: “She took to Twitter to say this: ‘Democracy is worth the wait. Thank you, Arizona. I’m so honored and so proud to be your next governor.’ But, if you believe that, I got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. If, that is, of course, you think Kari Lake agrees, which apparently she doesn't. She tweeted this, adroitly: ‘Arizonans know BS when they see it.’ Well, there’s that.”
Although ostensibly touted as part of Fox News’ so-called “straight news” division, Corke has never really been shy about airing out his political grievances on-air or online.
In 2017, for instance, the White House reporter mass-deleted a series of tweets boosting alt-right conspiracy theories and fringe-right trolls after The Daily Beast inquired about them.
Corke’s style of reporting, however, found favor with the Trump administration—with the ex-president shaking Corke’s hand and personally thanking him for “treat[ing] me fairly.”
Additionally, a Fox News reporter pushing skepticism about their own network’s projection of Arizona election results naturally invokes flashbacks of the internal and external drama Fox faced over its famously early (and accurate) 2020 call in Arizona.
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