Geraldo Rivera did precisely what you’d expect a broadcasting icon — and iconoclast — to do in his final appearance on Fox News: he made news.
Geraldo announced Thursday that he was leaving Fox News the same day the Supreme Court decided against college admissions offices relying on race, effectively ending affirmative action as a tool for college applications. Friday morning, Geraldo made what has been touted (and confirmed by Fox News) his final appearance on the network, showing up to discuss his 50-year career on Fox & Friends.
“I’m deeply touched, I’m honored, I love FOX, I love the people at FOX, I always will,” Geraldo said. “I’ll never let anyone separate us, but I am beyond grateful for this. This is so deeply affecting, I love you for it, thank you.”
But Geraldo also used his final appearance on the “curvy couch” to get his last word in — praising the very affirmative action policies that the Supreme Court struck down, which had largely been celebrated on the right-of-center opinion programs on Fox News. Geraldo said:
Well, I thank you for the for the opportunity, because affirmative action has just been voted down by the Supreme Court of the United States and a very controversial decision that will impact many people of color. I was a product of affirmative action over a half a century ago. Thank you. You’re welcome. When the Ford Foundation and Columbia Journalism
School got together to integrate the local news teams in New York, there were no black reporters, no Hispanic reporters, no women. And it was shocking. And that was as late as 1968, 69. So I was selected. I was making news representing a group of Puerto Rican activists, the Young Lords who had taken over some buildings up in the Spanish Harlem. And I was their lawyer and their negotiator. And I made a lot of news as their spokesperson. And so I got discovered that way, and they drafted me through the Columbia program, and the rest is history.
It was a fascinating cable news moment that verged on absurd as all other co-hosts and on-air talent wore fake mustaches to honor their soon-t0 be retired colleague. However, there was a ton of love in the studio partly because it followed over ten minutes of his career highlights and fellow Fox News colleagues expressing their love for Rivera.
Pete Hegseth, Jeanine Pirro, Sean Hannity, and Bret Baier were just a few examples of Fox News stars that praised Geraldo, but it was Neil Cavuto’s praising Geraldo that likely stood out the most, thanking him for making all of Fox News better:
And going in reverse chronological order, the segment opened with a rather stunning highlight reel of Geraldo’s body of work, both literally and figuratively, as Fox & Friends saw a lot of shots of a topless Geraldo reporting in the
Congratulations to Geraldo and his wife Erica for this new chapter in their lives.
Watch above via Fox News.