HBO host and comedian Bill Maher criticized Fox News over its decision not to air the House Jan. 6 committee’s first public hearing on its primary channel and the way it prioritized news stories around that time on its website.
During his opening monologue on “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday, the host said, “Fox News wouldn’t even show it. They had their regular programming. They put it on Fox Business Network because I think we could all agree this is a business story.”
“The Fox News website today had — you know what … the big thing was on it? Britney Spears. One of her exes crashed her wedding. This is like if during Watergate The Washington Post ran a story about Cher falling in the pool,” he added.
The House select committee held its first public hearing on Thursday in an effort to make the case that former President Trump played a central role in a plot to remain in power following the 2020 presidential election.
During the hearing, the panel aired clips of testimony from former Attorney General William Barr and the former president’s daughter Ivanka Trump. It also included live testimony from Capitol Police officer Caroline Edwards and documentarian Nick Quested.
Fox News Media announced ahead of the committee’s hearing earlier this week that it would not be carrying live, continuous coverage of the hearing on its primary channel. Instead, coverage would take place on Fox Business with anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier.
Other coverage of the prime-time hearing was offered on Fox Nation, Fox News Digital and Fox News Audio. Its local affiliates throughout the U.S. also aired live coverage.
Fox News Media said that it would “cover the hearings as news warrants” on its primary channel.
“They’re all upset that Fox’s isn’t covering it live,” prime-time Fox News host Laura Ingraham said on her show on Tuesday. “We actually do something called, ya know, cater to our audience. Our audience knows what this is. We’ll cover it, and we’ll do plenty of coverage … but it’s the theater, total theater.”
The Hill has reached out to Fox News for comment.