Former Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt called to testify before January 6 committee

• Chris Stirewalt, who was fired from Fox News after the 2020 election, will testify on Capitol Hill.
• The former political editor will appear at Monday's January 6 hearing, he said on Friday.

Former Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt will testify before the January 6 committee on Monday, he confirmed on-air Monday at his new home, NewsNation.

Speaking on the Nexstar-owned cable channel — rebranded from WGN America in March 2021 — Stirewalt said he could not discuss what he would be testifying about, but offered some commentary on his time at Fox News, where he was fired in January 2021.

Kellie Meyer, NewsNation's Washington correspondent, tweeted on Friday morning that Stirewalt said Fox News hosts "were functioning as an arm of the Republican Party."

Stirewalt has specifically been critical of prime-time opinion hosts such as Tucker Carlson, who he said acted in a "beyond reckless" manner by airing his conspiracy theory-ridden January 6 documentary on the Fox Nation streaming service.

Carlson's primetime colleagues, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, have been caught up in the committee's investigation through text messages they sent to former White House officials as the insurrection was unfolding. Both offered political messaging advice to the White House privately, but on-air, they did not implicate Trump as directly for his role in the riot, and issued general condemnations of anyone committing violence on the day.

The hosts also privately pleaded with former White House Chief of Staff Meadows to get Trump to call off his supporters as the Capitol siege escalated.

One of the most critical junctures for Fox News — and potentially of interest to the committee with regard to Stirewalt — came in its mid-election week call for Arizona to go for President Joe Biden.

Fox News had just introduced a new methodology to its decision desk, which its director, Arnon Mishkin, explained to Insider ahead of Election Day. The network called Arizona before other major TV outlets, and ultimately proved correct in its decision.

However, the Arizona call — which put Biden on the cusp of victory as ballots continued to be counted that week — sent Trumpworld into a frenzy, with the former president quickly turning the cold shoulder to his self-professed favorite TV channel.