Former Bush campaign adviser lashes out at own network over call on swing state Ohio which sealed re-election projection

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

An intra-channel civil war broke out on Fox News after the network called the state of Ohio, and therefore the presidency, for Barack Obama.

Karl Rove, who masterminded two presidential election victories for George W Bush and is now a paid Fox pundit, objected to his employer's decision to call Ohio for Obama.

Rove, who has ploughed millions of dollars into supporting Mitt Romney's campaign, said the call was "premature".

ROVE: "This is premature." Says not over yet.#FoxNews — Gabriel Sherman (@gabrielsherman) November 7, 2012

What followed was truly bizarre: after Rove's fleck-marked objections, presenter Megyn Kelly goes to the Fox News decision desk to interrogate those statisticians responsible for the call. They defended their decision and basically said that there was no way Romney could win Ohio.

Amazing: Rove rebuking Fox on air for calling OH for Obama. Megyn Kelly: "That's awkward" — jmartpolitico (@jmartpolitico) November 7, 2012

Rove continued to argue the toss with Republican elections guru Michael Barone about the Ohio call. Barone, who was involved in making the call for the Fox decision desk, said half of Cuyahoga County was yet to report, and would return strongly Democratic.

Rove tracked somewhat and said: "Oh well if I'd seen those numbers ... I was just raising a cautionary note."