Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill comes out swinging against Fox News after election loss

Claire McCaskill
(Image credit: Scott Olson / Getty Images)

After being voted out of office, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) is placing some blame on Fox News.

McCaskill, a moderate who attempted to distance herself from "crazy Democrats" during her re-election campaign, lost her bid for a third term on Tuesday to Josh Hawley, a Republican attorney general who President Trump had campaigned for the day before the election. On Wednesday, in an interview with The New York Times, McCaskill cited Trump's inflammatory rhetoric as having had an impact, noting that it had been spread to rural voters by Fox News.

In particular, McCaskill told the Times that whenever she walked into a restaurant in Missouri, she saw a TV tuned into Fox News broadcasting footage of the Central American migrant caravan, saying of Fox, "It's time we all quit dancing around what is now a state-owned news channel."

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McCaskill also bemoaned Trump's influence on voters in rural counties, saying, "The further you get from metropolitan areas, the more powerful Donald Trump is and the more allegiance there is to whatever he says and does."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.