Fox News Apologizes for Airing Old Clip— After Critics Say They Misled Viewers By Not Showing Trump Wearing Baseball Cap at Ceremony for Fallen Troops
Fox News apologized, Sunday, for airing a clip showing footage of an old dignified transfer ceremony — rather than the one that took place on Saturday honoring six U.S. service members killed in Iran. But critics accused the network of intentionally misleading viewers by airing the old footage, which omitted a gesture many took as a sign of disrespect from President Donald Trump.
The incorrect footage was aired in the first hour of Fox & Friends Weekend on Sunday. Host Griff Jenkins introduced the clip — which purported to show Trump at Dover Air Force base in Delaware at the dignified transfer ceremony honoring Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, Capt. Cody Khork, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens and Sgt. Declan Coady. Critics slammed the president for wearing a baseball cap at the ceremony as the caskets were marched past him. But in the footage viewers were shown, Trump was not seen wearing the hat.
“President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and [Second] Lady Usha Vance attending a dignified transfer to honor the final homecoming of the six US service members killed in Kuwait,” Jenkins said, narrating the clip. “The solemn ritual returns the remains of troops killed in action. It is considered one of the most somber duties of a commander in chief.”
But critics quickly spotted that the video was incorrect. And so during the 9 a.m. ET hour, Jenkins delivered an on-air correction.
“We want to acknowledge a mistake made earlier on our program,” Jenkins said. “During our coverage of yesterday’s dignified transfer, we inadvertently aired video from an older dignified transfer instead of the ceremony that took place yesterday. We deeply regret the air and extend our respect and condolences to the service members’ families. We honor the sacrifice of those six American heroes.”
Many critics were unmoved by the apology — and accused the network of intentionally showing the wrong footage.
In a statement provided to Mediaite, the network said, “FOX News Media programs inadvertently aired file footage from a previous dignified transfer while discussing yesterday’s ceremony at Dover Air Force Base. The archival footage was mistakenly used during the video sourcing process. We regret the error and apologize for the incorrect footage.”
Watch above, via Fox News.
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