Chris Hayes Mocks Fox News for Selectively Editing Biden Clip: ‘THE PRESIDENT’S HAND DISAPPEARS MIDWAY THROUGH HIS SENTENCE’
The Fox & Friends crew took some heat on Friday after it played footage of a selectively edited clip designed to make it seem as though President Joe Biden had simply referred to baseball legend Satchel Paige as a “negro.”
As Chris Hayes noted on Friday night, Biden indeed stumbled a tad during a speech when mentioning Paige, the legendary Negro Leagues pitcher who could not play in Major League Baseball until his forties because of racial segregation.
Here’s what Biden said:
“I’ve adopted the attitude of the great Negro — at the time, pitcher in the Negro Leagues — went on to become a great pitcher in the pros — in the Major League Baseball after Jackie Robinson. His name was Satchel Paige.”
But viewers of Fox & Friends heard something different because the video department had removed all mention of the Negro Leagues. Instead, they heard,
I’ve adopted the attitude of the great negro — at the time, pitcher – name was Satchel Paige.
That wasn’t the only issue. As some, including Hayes noted, Biden’s hand mysteriously disappears in the clip.
“THE PRESIDENT’S HAND DISAPPEARS MIDWAY THROUGH HIS SENTENCE,” tweeted Hayes, who gleefully highlighted the selective edit and gaffe later that night.
The MSNBC host played the unedited clip for the audience before getting to the Fox News version.
“When you listen, watch for where the hand goes,” he said. “Watch for the vanishing hand.”
After the clip played, Hayes noted, “So that was deceptively edited to make it sound like Biden was calling Satchel Paige ‘negro’… That’s why you get the disappearing hand because the hand’s up in the first part of it, and then it’s gone during, ‘His name was Satchel Paige.'”
He concluded, “Fox News is the most powerful messaging arm the Republican Party has and it just kind of pumps lies, mistruths, misinformation, and constant agitated rage into the homes of millions of millions of Americans every single day.”
Regarding the matter, Fox News issued a statement reading, “The clip aired in full during the 5AM/ET and 8AM/ET hours of FOX & Friends this morning. The 7AM/ET clip was shortened due to time constraints.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
This post has been updated to include the statement from Fox News.
