“Absolutely. We made it basically after a half hour of debating ‘is it time?’” Mishkin said.
Fox News’ call for Arizona came so early, in fact, that the network’s anchors seemed surprised. President Trump was reportedly furious and criticized the decision in an early morning White House appearance, specifically dismissing “the gentleman who called it.”
That gentleman is Arnon Mishkin — a Jewish registered Democrat from New York who is the leader and face of the Fox numbers team.
Mishkin called that Arizona would go blue at around 11:30 p.m. Eastern time. At around 12:30 a.m., he appeared on air, and Fox host Bret Baier pushed him to declare that he was “100%” certain about his call.
The director of Fox News' election decision desk, Arnon Mishkin, voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and donated to Obama/Biden in 2008.
He's the one who called Arizona for Biden prematurely. RESCIND! https://t.co/BfAq7TOYdL pic.twitter.com/1LVLj9JQVg
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) November 5, 2020
The call injected life back into the Biden campaign, which was reeling as it watched tallies in swing states such as Ohio and Florida grow insurmountable Trump leads. Other networks would call Arizona for Biden hours later.
WATCH:
Fox decision desk chief @arnonmishkin on calls for network to retract its Arizona call: "We are not pulling back that call…. We strongly believe our call will stand." pic.twitter.com/3ldTJNJxyp
— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) November 4, 2020
Meanwhile, there are still about 450-500k ballots to be counted statewide, most in Maricopa county. The last two batches of votes reported by Maricopa county have broken 59/41 for President Trump.
Just in from AZ: Biden’s lead is down to 2.4% (68,390 votes).
There are still about 450-500k ballots to be counted statewide, most in Maricopa County.
Last 2 batches of votes reported by Maricopa County have broken 59/41 for @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/DmVefErkRf
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) November 5, 2020
Late Wednesday night, PEACEFUL Trump supporters gathered outside the Maricopa County Elections Department building as mail-in ballots were tallied. CNN reported the PEACEFUL gathering, in which supporters prayed together, to be violent and dangerous.
The FAKE NEWS MEDIA is doing everything in their power to give life to the Biden campaign as President Trump’s path to victory becomes clearer and clearer.