The fired Fox News editor instrumental to the network's Arizona election call for Biden says he became the target of 'murderous rage' from viewers

• The Fox News political editor Chris Stirewalt was fired January 19.
• Stirewalt was part of Fox's decision to call Arizona for Biden on November 3.
• He said conservative viewers were furious and he became the target of their "murderous rage."

A Fox News editor who was key to calling Arizona for Joe Biden on election night in November said he became the "focus" of attacks and felt "murderous rage" from conservative viewers.

Chris Stirewalt, who was fired as a Fox News political editor on January 19, was part of Fox News' decision desk, which uses data to project the winners in states. Before getting laid off, Stirewalt was barred from appearing on the air, Mediaite reported.

Fox News was the first major news organization to call Arizona for Biden, which it did at 11:20 p.m. ET on November 3.

The Associated Press called Arizona for Biden within hours, but outlets including Insider, ABC, CBS, and NBC did not do so until November 12.

"We were kind of out there by ourselves, and through that process we became a focus of all of this rage, all of this anger," Stirewalt told MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Thursday.

"A lot of people have grown accustomed to being flattered by their news outlets," Stirewalt said.

In an op-ed article for the Los Angeles Times published earlier that day, Stirewalt had gone further, saying he felt "murderous rage" from viewers "who were furious at not having their views confirmed."

Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on Stirewalt's remarks.

While other networks held out on calling Arizona, Stirewalt went on the air to defend the network's call in the days that followed.

"Arizona is doing just what we expected it to do and we remain serene and pristine," he said in a November 5 broadcast, according to the AP.

Stirewalt also told MSNBC on Thursday that the long delay in other states' vote counts made the anger harder to process.

"It was long after any calls were made that I had any idea that this was a huge deal or that people were freaking out or all that stuff," he said.

"I would not understand the magnitude of the anger on the right about this for some time."

After Fox made the call, Trump administration officials were furious and were said to have scrambled to get the network to overturn the ruling.

The New York Times reported that Jason Miller, a political advisor to President Donald Trump, called Fox News and asked the network to retract the call.

Fox News ignored the demand, The Times said, and instead put Arnon Mishkin, the head of the decision desk, on the air to explain why the network stood by the call.

Jared Kushner, Trump's son in-law, also reportedly phoned Rupert Murdoch, the Fox News owner, to look into the decision, but the network held firm.

Fox News' chief White House correspondent at the time, John Roberts, said the White House was "livid."

In the Los Angeles Times op-ed article, Stirewalt said outright that he was fired. A Fox representative previously told Insider's Grace Dean that Stirewalt's dismissal, and those of 15 others, were part of a restructuring.

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Stirewalt also attacked the relentless news culture pursued by US cable news networks.

"Twenty-four hours is not the correct increment to consume news," he said, adding the experience "woke me up to unhappy facts about the way that the industry works."

"It was not just a matter that they were unhappy or disagreed with it, it was a matter of real anger and spoke to me about the depth of the problem."