Fox Corporation executives have poured money into Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin’s reelection campaign, Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show.
Several executives have reportedly collectively spent tens of thousands of dollars in support of Manchin. Manchin is one of the few Democratic senators to appear on the network and warn the nation about the federal deficit and spending proposals brought forth by President Joe Biden and Democrats.
John Aberneth, a Fox TV Stations CEO, reportedly donated $3,300 to the campaign. Stephen Brown, a Fox TV executive, donated $500, according to FEC records. Elizabeth Casey, a Fox Corps attorney, reportedly gave $2,000, and another attorney named Joe Di Scipio reportedly donated $1,000. Viet D Dinh, a Fox Corps chief legal and policy officer, reportedly spent a total of $6,600.
More Fox Corps executives named Adrian Farley and Jamie Gillespie spent $6,600, according to the FEC records.
Fox Executives Are Pouring Cash Into Joe Manchin’s Campaignhttps://t.co/cufovJ5Wvn by @DRBoguslaw
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) August 14, 2023
Fox’s political action committee, FOXPAC, also allegedly donated $8,500 to Manchin in the spring, according to the Intercept. (RELATED: Leaked Fox News Handbook Accommodates Gender Identity, Transitions, Pronouns: REPORT)
Prior to this, Manchin had not received a donation from a Fox executive since 2018 when James Murdoch donated to the senator, per the Intercept.
“A lot of donations are part of the buddy network. The world of extremely rich and influential people in the United States is kind of small,” Stan Oklobdzija, a political science professor at Tulane University, told The Intercept. “Manchin has been around on the Hill for a long time, he’s a known commodity. These donors probably come across Manchin, they like him, they see him as reliable, and want to keep him in office.”
Fox News spokesperson Irena Briganti reportedly told the Intercept that FOXPAC supports elected officials and candidates one both sides of the aisle.
Manchin, a known moderate, attended a No Labels event in Manchester, New Hampshire, and has seriously considered leaving the Democratic Party and running as a third party candidate. A May poll shows he is falling behind Gov. Jim Justice, his Republican opponent, by 22 percentage points.