A number of viewers are slamming Fox News after four of the network’s hosts laughed their way out of a segment detailing a mass casualty event and the possible assassination of two former presidents on Monday.
Matt Drudge was one of the many to voice his frustration after the women of Outnumbered – Kennedy, Harris Faulkner, Melissa Francis and Rachel Campos-Duffy -ended a segment on the MAGAboimber and this weekend’s massacre inside a Pittsburgh synagogue with an inside joke.
Kennedy began to speak about how tragedies used to unify the country, citing 9/11 as an example, and then added: ‘What I will say is, try becoming a member of a third party for a little while.’
At that moment, all four women erupted with laughter, and the camera cut to Francis even tossing her head back and clapping her hands together.
Bad timing: A segment detailing the attack inside a Jewish synagogue that left 11 dead over the weekend and two in critical condition ended in laughs on Fox News (Kennedy above laughing as she shares an inside joke)
Chyron of terror: The four female hosts of Outnumbered began to joke about host Kennedy’s libertarian party affiliation after discussing the unifying nature of tragedy (Harris Faulkner laughs at Kennedy on Monday)
Kennedy continued: ‘And then you’ll see what it’s like to lose every single election and still walk around with a smile on your face.’
Faulkner then jumped in to say: ‘My libertarian friend!’ and Kennedy shot back through the laughter: ‘Technically unaffiliated.’
The entire exchange did not sit well with Drudge, and was certainly not how most people would expect a segment detailing the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in US history to end.
In a rare tweet and even more rare attack on Fox News, Drudge posted a photo of Kennedy laughing and wrote: ‘Is it really funny?’
He did not stop there either, and followed that up with a much longer tweet a few moments later, stating: ‘A segment on Fox News this morning where hosts laughed and joked their way through a discussion on political impact of terror was bizarre. Not even 48 hours since blood flowed at synagogue? Check your soul in the makeup chair!’
In the wake of those tweets, Fox News issued a comment on the segment.
‘Kennedy made an unrelated quip at the end of the segment which was focused on unity – there was absolutely no joking or laughing about the events of this weekend and a screen grab of her smiling is hardly indicative of the entire segment,’ said the network.
‘The lower third should not have been up for the duration of this segment as it was not fully reflective of what the panelists were discussing.’
That was a reference to the fact that throughout the laughter the chyron on the bottom of the screen still read: ‘Questions of how mail-bomb scare, synagogue attack could impact midterm voters eight days from now.’
Drudge was ready to fire back however, making it clear that it was not just Kennedy smiling by posting screengrabs of the other three women laughing during the segment.
‘Hysterical!’ he wrote on that post.
Response: ‘Not even 48 hours since blood flowed at synagogue? Check your soul in the makeup chair!’ said Matt Drudge, at which point Fox News issued a statement (Rachel Duffy-Campos above)
Smiles: ‘Kennedy made an unrelated quip at the end of the segment which was focused on unity – there was absolutely no joking or laughing about the events,’ it read (Melissa Francis above on Monday)
Not having it: ‘A segment on Fox News this morning where hosts laughed and joked their way through a discussion on political impact of terror was bizarre,’ said Matt Drudge (above)
Robert Bowers killed eight men and three women before a police tactical team shot him on Saturday.
Six other people were wounded, including four officers, and four people remain hospitalized with two in critical condition.
He was charged in a 29-count federal criminal complaint that included counts of obstructing the exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death – a hate crime – and using a gun to commit murder.
Bowers was also charged under state law with criminal homicide, aggravated assault and ethnic intimidation.
Minutes before the synagogue attack, Bowers apparently took to social media to rage against HIAS, a Jewish organisation that resettles refugees under contract with the US Government.
‘HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people,’ he is believed to have written on Gab.
‘I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.’