Screenshot / Fox & Friends / Benjamin Goggin
- "Fox & Friends" apologized Sunday after screenshots went viral of a
news segment with a graphic characterizing three countries in Central America as "Mexican countries". - The graphic, known as a chyron in the TV world, aired during a segment on Trump's cuts to aid money for the countries over their roles in migration tensions between the US and Mexico
- "We had an inaccurate graphic on screen while talking about this very story. We just want to be clear, the funding is being cut off to the three Central American countries," host Ed Henry said later in the show.
The hosts of "Fox & Friends" apologized Sunday morning following an early morning segment that ran with a graphic which said President Donald Trump would cut "US aid to 3 Mexican countries."
The text, known in the TV world as chyron, mischaracterized the news item which was actually about three Central American countries.
The mistake follows a long history of criticism of the network's allegedly partisan coverage of news items that critics say misinforms the public and stokes outrage around issues like immigration. Hosts on the network have also faced accusations of racism.
Fox & Friends
During the segment the hosts discussed Trump's "doubling down on his crackdown of illegal immigration," and said it's "clear he's going full court press on Mexico."
Later on, after the chyron went viral, "Fox & Friends" host Ed Henry made a statement on air apologizing for the chyron error.
"We want to clarify and correct something that happened earlier in the show," Henry said. "We had an inaccurate graphic on screen while talking about this very story. We just want to be clear, the funding is being cut off to the three Central American countries. We apologize for the error."
Here's what people are saying on Twitter:
Remember, kids:
Africa is one country.
Mexico is three countries. https://t.co/jm2Q7d7E7T
- Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) March 31, 2019
This is a real graphic Fox and Friends put up on air. Again, this is real. What is life, anymore? Are we in a simulation? pic.twitter.com/hTH0o5d5dN
- Steve Yager (@SteveYager) March 31, 2019
This is an actual banner from "Fox & Friends Weekend." 6:03am today. I double checked because I didn't believe it at first. Hat tip @BadFoxGraphics pic.twitter.com/tTNH0Y7a25
- Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 31, 2019