Fox's Baier, Wash. Post's Birnbaum falsely claim that all states passing referendums banning gay marriage in 2004 voted for Bush

Summary: On Fox News' Special Report, chief White House correspondent Bret Baier falsely reported that "President Bush won all 11 states" that passed bans on same-sex marriage in the 2004 election. On the same program, Washington Post staff writer Jeffrey H. Birnbaum repeated the inaccurate claim when he stated that "all those states passed those referenda" and "all of them voted for President Bush for re-election." In fact, Sen. John Kerry won two of the states that passed referendums banning gay marriage in 2004, Michigan and Oregon.

On the June 5 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume, Bret Baier, just beginning his new job as Fox News' chief White House correspondent, falsely reported that "President Bush won all 11 states" that passed bans on same-sex marriage in the 2004 election. On the same program, Washington Post staff writer Jeffrey H. Birnbaum repeated the inaccurate claim when he stated that "all those states passed those referenda" and "all of them voted for President Bush for re-election." In fact, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) won two of the states that passed referendums banning same-sex marriages in 2004, Michigan and Oregon.

Additionally, Birnbaum falsely claimed that "there's something very close to a consensus in this country that a marriage between a man and a woman is the way legal marriage should be." In fact, recent polling shows Americans closely divided on the issue.

From the June 5 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:

BAIER: [White House press secretary Tony] Snow said he doubted the issue was a, quote, "big driver for voters." But, in the 2004 election, a gay-marriage ban was on the ballot in 11 states. Each measure passed overwhelmingly, and President Bush won all 11 states. Most of those states have competitive House races this fall. At the White House, Bret Baier, Fox News.

[...]

BIRNBAUM: In all 11 states that had referenda, a couple of years ago, all of those states passed those referenda, banning gay marriage, and all of them voted for President Bush for re-election. And it's a real advantage; it's a real vote-getter for Republicans. There's something very close to a consensus in this country that a marriage between a man and a woman is the way legal marriage should be.

—R.D.