Opinion

BROADCAST BIAS: Major media ignored Swalwell scandal until Democrats wanted him gone

Reporters heard rumors about Swalwell's behavior for years, but story only broke when he became an issue for Democrats

By Tim Graham Fox News

Published April 18, 2026 7:00am EDT

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Kimmel, Colbert remain silent on Swalwell allegations

Fox News contributor Joe Concha discusses late-night hosts' silence after former Rep. Eric Swalwell was accused of sexual misconduct and the controversial comments from far-left influencer Hasan Piker. 

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The natural instincts at the broadcast network news divisions are to play up Republican scandals and controversies and bury troubling stories about Democrats. So, it’s interesting when they pick up a Democrat scandal, drive a Democrat out of office, and then drop the story like a hot potato.

This is what happened with Rep. Eric Swalwell, who recently was the leading Democrat in California’s "jungle primary" for governor. On Friday night, April 10, CNN broke the story that four women accused him of sexual harassment. On Sunday night, Swalwell dropped out of the governor’s race. On Monday night, he resigned from Congress. That’s two news cycles and he’s gone. The networks seemed to lose interest after Wednesday morning.

The Washington Free Beacon reported these charges were coming on April 6, so the network bias by omission for four days was unsurprising. But clearly within Democrat circles, wheels were turning. The polls in this primary often showed two Republicans winning the top two seats for the general election. So, it looked like time to shrink the Democrat field of candidates.

On Saturday........

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