A Vegas oddsmaker’s take on Fox News and the election grift

 

Image by Ken Swope.

. . . "After describing a famously fixed football game in 1978 (the New York Giants versus the Philadelphia Eagles), Root wrote,

Gamblers feel the same way about this presidential election. This presidential election is rancid. It feels as fixed as that Giants-Eagles NFL football game. Let me give you the details of this election- from a gambler’s perspective.

"Once the polls closed on Tuesday and the counting began, gamblers took note of the onrush of Trump votes. Trump quickly moved from a 2 to 1 underdog to an 8 to 1 favorite:

What does all this mean? Bettors putting their money on the line during Election Night have always proven to be deadly accurate. Smart bettors can clearly see what direction a race is taking. Bettors around the world clearly saw what I saw, when they stared at the electoral map- Trump was headed for an electoral landslide.

"At that point, something very weird occurred. It didn’t happen at CNN or MSNBC, it happened at Fox News. You all remember that Fox refused to call Florida, Ohio, or Texas for Trump, even though Trump was miles ahead in those three states. Additionally, even though Trump was also significantly ahead in Virginia, Fox nevertheless called the state for Biden. But that wasn’t the worst:

And then it happened. It was the most bizarre call in Election Night history. Fox News called Arizona for Biden. Why? It wasn’t even close to over. There was no reason on earth to make that call. Arizona is STILL not over 8 days later. CNN still hasn’t awarded Arizona. ABC pulled it back from Biden only 24 hours ago. [Root’s article was published on Nov. 14.)

"The moment that call occurred Trump’s 8 to 1 odds collapsed back to 2 to 1. One of Root’s major bookmaking friends called him:

 “Wayne, something is wrong. I’ve never seen a drop like that, let alone a drop that fast. How can Trump go from 8 to 1, to 2 to 1. Someone knows something. We’ve got a problem.” . . .

Fox News continues to alienate its viewers  "Fox News continues to insult its audience. This time, the insults came from Kristin Fisher, who was speaking from either ignorance or malice when she attacked Rudy Giuliani after Trump’s legal team gave a press conference."

 .If Fisher had listened to Ellis, she wouldn’t have whined about the absence of evidence. Ellis could not have made it plainer that the conference was to summarize the case, not to prove it. . .