The 43 Most Insane Fox News Moments Of All Time

SpongeBob promotes a "global-warming agenda"? You can't make this stuff up.

43. Steve Doocy mocks Obama for holding papers together with a binder clip.

"Hundreds of billions in tax hikes and new spending... bound together with that chintzy clip? What's that about?"

42. Bill O'Reilly says Asians aren't liberals because they're "hardworking."

When speaking about Hawaii's debt crisis on a 2013 episode of his show, O'Reilly says, "But you know what's shocking? Thirty-five percent of the Hawaiian population is Asian, and Asian people are not liberal, you know, by nature. They're usually more industrious and hardworking."

41. The Washington Post runs a Fox News ad that made false claims about tea party coverage.

politico.com

On Sept. 18, 2009, Fox News Channel took out full-page ads in the Washington Post, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal with a prominent caption reading, "How did ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN miss this story?" with pictures of a tea party movement protest on the United States Capitol lawn.

However, the still picture used in the ad was, in fact, taken from a CNN broadcast covering the event, and CNN, NBC, CBS, and MSNBC were all found to have aired coverage of the event.

40. E.D. Hill calls a fist bump between Barack and Michelle Obama a "terrorist fist jab."

youtube.com

E.D. Hill introduced an upcoming discussion about a fist bump between Barack and Michelle Obama after the final 2008 Democratic primaries by asking if the gesture was "a fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab?" She never explained the term when the segment continued after a commercial break. (Less offensive but still awkward: She later asks a panelist if a "fist thump" is a "signal that young people get.")

39. Brian Kilmeade asks Nicaraguan meteorologist to host a Taco Day segment because she "probably grew up on tacos, right?"

youtube.com

38. Fox News exec urges staff to avoid discussing climate change.

politico.com

In 2009, Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon sent an email to staff offering guidance on how to handle the climate debate. The email was sent "minutes" after Fox White House correspondent Wendell Goler reported that U.N. scientists had issued a report saying that 2000–2009 was “expected to turn out to be the warmest decade on record.”

“Given the controversy over the veracity of climate change data,” Sammon wrote, “we should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question. It is not our place as journalists to assert such notions as facts, especially as this debate intensifies.”

37. Jon Stewart accuses Sean Hannity of manipulating video footage of a Michele Bachmann protest.

youtube.com

The Daily Show pointed out in a segment that Hannity's program passed off crowd footage from Glenn Beck's more heavily attended 9/12 rally as the crowd from a Michele Bachmann-led health care protest. Hannity claimed it was an "inadvertent mistake."

36. Hannity guest Bill Cunningham tells a female panelist, "Know your role and shut your mouth."

youtube.com

On a June 2013 episode of Hannity, right-wing radio host Bill Cunningham lashed out at commentator Tamara Holder during a discussion about whether Attorney General Eric Holder committed perjury. Pointing his finger in her face, Cunningham yells at Holder to “Shut up. Know your role and shut your mouth.”

“What, are you going to cry?” Cunningham needled Holder later when she took a pause after Cunningham called her a "liberal stooge."

35. Fox Business host Charles Payne attacks The Lego Movie for "pushing an anti-business message to kids."

youtube.com

He also calls attention to the fact that Lord Business “looks a little bit like Mitt Romney.”

34. Erick Erickson says it's "anti-science" to not believe men should "dominate" women.

youtube.com

Lou Dobbs and Erick Erickson bristled over a study that indicated that more women than ever are the primary breadwinners in their household. Erickson claimed, "When you look at biology, look at the natural world, the roles of a male and a female in society, and other animals, the male typically is the dominant role." Later, Megyn Kelly brought both Dobbs and Erickson on her program and tore into them: "I didn't like what you wrote one bit. To me you sound like somebody who's judging and then wants to come out and say, 'I'm not, I'm not, I'm not, and now let me judge judge judge, and by the way it's science it's science it's science it's fact fact fact fact.' Well, I have a whole list of studies saying your science is wrong and your facts are wrong."

33. Ben Carson compares LGBTQ people to NAMBLA and people who practice bestiality.

youtube.com

Former neurosurgeon Carson laid into same-sex marriage advocates during a discussion of Supreme Court decisions on a 2013 episode of Sean Hannity's program: "Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group — be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality — it doesn't matter what they are, they don't get to change the definition. So he, it's not something that is against gays, it's against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definitions of pillars of society. It has significant ramifications."

32. Fox produces its own anti-Obama attack ad.

youtube.com

Fox & Friends aired this four-minute video, framed as a retrospective of President Obama’s first term in office, as a “Fox & Friends Presents” special. It was later pulled from the Fox website with no explanation. Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming at Fox News, later told Yahoo that "the package that aired on Fox & Friends was created by an associate producer and was not authorized at the senior executive level of the network."

31. Andrea Tartaros says she'd "look fabulous" on food stamps.

youtube.com

"I should try it because do you know how fabulous I'd look? I'd be so skinny. The camera adds 10 pounds, you know."

30. Mistake in graphic portrays Obama as a GOP hopeful.

i.huffpost.com

LOL.

29. Jon Scott asks Bill Nye if the existence of a volcano on the moon disproves climate change.

youtube.com

Bill Nye chatted with Fox News anchor Jon Scott about the recent discovery of volcanoes on the moon and its implications for life’s origins. Scott bypasses the origins talk to ask if these volcanoes caused climate change on the moon. After all, no one has burned any fossil fuels on the moon, and it's totally fine!

It's as confusing as it sounds, and Nye's reaction is priceless.

28. Fox poll claims 120% of Americans believe scientists falsify global-warming data.

thinkprogress.org

Media Matters claims this wasn't just a typo, but an attempt at a deliberate distortion of data.

27. Fox psychiatrist thinks Obama was victimized by his parents and is taking it out on America.

On Fox & Friends, Dr. Keith Ablow told host Steve Doocy, “I think the president — going back to when his dad abandoned him, when his mother left him with his grandparents … all of those things led him to feel victimized, hurt, and injured, and he has extended it to this country.”

26. Brian Kilmeade says Americans aren't "pure" like the Swedes because they keep marrying "other species and other ethnics."

youtube.com

During a discussion of a Swedish and Finnish study that found married people were less susceptible to Alzheimer's disease than unmarried ones, Kilmeade suggested the findings don't apply as much to Americans: "we [Americans] keep marrying other species and other ethnicities ... Swedes have pure genes ... in America we marry everybody..."

Kilmeade later apologized, saying, "I made comments that were offensive to many people. That was not my intention, and looking back at those comments, I realize they were inappropriate. For that I sincerely apologize. America [is a] huge melting pot, and that is what makes us such a great country."

25. Bob Beckel asks, "When was the last time you heard about a rape on campus?"

youtube.com

At least he's quickly corrected.

24. Fox & Friends claims Obama chose a sit-down with a costumed pirate in 2012 over a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.

youtube.com

The problem? The pirate photo was actually taken in 2009 for a skit used during the White House Correspondents dinner. The president's Twitter account tweeted the photo in 2012 to celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

23. Andrea Tartaros blames statutory rape on feminism.

"Everything has become so sexualized now. Women who [commit statutory rape] feel like it's not as stigmatizing as it was before. There's something about feminism that lets them know 'I can do everything that a man does. I can even go after that young boy. I deserve it.'"

22. Glenn Beck pretends to light a guest on fire over Obama's spending.

youtube.com

"Let's say Bill [Schultz] here is the average American and I'm President Obama," Beck says, pouring "gasoline" over Schultz. He then lights a match and asks, "President Obama, why don't you just set us on fire? For the love of Pete, what are you doing?"

21. John Stossel asserts that feminists no longer need to push for gender equality.

Fox Business host John Stossel took to the air to claim that women no longer need to fight for "gender equality": "Women ... often choose jobs that aren't so time-consuming, not so dangerous." Stossel went on to state that women are definitely worse drivers than men, as "they can't maneuver as well." He also says that now co-ed schools are "unfair to boys."

20. Fox & Friends labels Elie Wiesel a "Holocaust winner."

huffingtonpost.com

The chyron was apparently quickly changed to "Nobel Prize winner."

19. Megyn Kelly claims that Jesus and Santa are both white.

youtube.com

While discussing a piece in Slate by Aisha Harris about a black versus white Santa in December 2013, Kelly pronounces that both Santa and Jesus are in fact white.

"You know, I've given her her due. Just because it makes you feel uncomfortable doesn't mean it has to change," Kelly said. "Jesus was a white man too. It's like we have — he's a historical figure that's a verifiable fact, as is Santa, I just want kids to know that. How do you revise it in the middle of the legacy in the story and change Santa from white to black?"

Kelly later defended her comments, saying that the panel was a "lighthearted segment" in which she "offered a tongue-in-cheek message to kids watching, saying that Santa, who I joked is a real person whose race is identifiable, is white — just as Harris claimed in her piece, but that we were debating that somehow should change."

18. Fox gets hoaxed by an Obama-supporting college student on live TV.

youtube.com

Max Rice, a film student at Columbia, fools Fox & Friends' Gretchen Carlson into thinking he's a Romney supporter living at home with his parents. When Carlson asks why he's supporting Romney, Rice says he's been a longtime Obama fan, and later replies that he lost a bet over a basketball game. An awkward silence ensues, and the segment quickly derails.

17. Fox News psychiatrist Keith Ablow claims Newt Gingrich's infidelity might make him a better president.

foxnews.com

His basic argument: since women are clearly clamoring to be with Gingrich, America should be too. The 2012 article is still online.

16. A Neil Cavuto segment claims that poor people aren't actually poor because they have refrigerators.

youtube.com

In conjunction with a Heritage Foundation study, Fox claims that people who have fridges or microwaves aren't actually poor.

15. Ann Coulter says "liberal women" shouldn't be allowed to hold office.

youtube.com

Coulter likens Sen. Dianne Feinstein to "another 'I am woman, hear me roar' Democrat, Hillary Clinton," and says that "as soon as they get a question they don't like, they start crying." She adds, "I used to think women should not be able to vote and now I think liberal women should not be able to hold office."

14. Fox analyst Liz Trotta makes Obama assassination joke.

youtube.com

While discussing the Clinton campaign in May 2008, former Washington Times editor Liz Trotta made the comment to host Erik Shawd: "And now we have what some are reading as a suggestion that somebody knock off Osama, uh, Obama. Well, both, if we could."

She later apologized.

13. Mike Huckabee blames the Newtown shooting on schools forsaking God.

youtube.com

"We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we have systematically removed God from our schools," Huckabee said on Fox News shortly after the shooting. "Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage?"

12. Fox & Friends attacks SpongeBob for "pushing a global-warming agenda."

youtube.com

In July 2011, the Department of Education distributed free books to kids at a "Let's Move!" event, including one from Nickelodeon’s The Big Green Help series titled SpongeBob Goes Green! An Earth-Friendly Adventure. Fox & Friends host Gretchen Carlson points out that the books “blamed man for global warming, but they did not tell kids that that is actually a disputed fact.” Steve Doocy agrees: “Clearly, Nickelodeon is pushing a global-warming agenda."

11. Fox & Friends intros a segment on Chelsea Manning with Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)."

youtube.com

Later Fox News coverage of Manning referred to her transition as a "ruse" and called her "Bradley," refusing to use her preferred name.

10. Bill O'Reilly says there must "be some downside to having a woman president."

"Something [about women] may not fit with that office, correct?" O'Reilly asks his two female panelists. They stare at him, stunned. "No," Kirsten Powers says.

9. Anchor Lauren Green prods Muslim scholar Reza Aslan over why a Muslim would write a historical book about Jesus.

youtube.com

After she questions Aslan for several minutes about whether his religious beliefs bias his views of Jesus — Aslan repeatedly points out that he's a secular academic scholar of religion and his personal beliefs don't harm his objectivity — Green follows up with, "I believe that you've been on several programs and have never disclosed that you were a Muslim." The video went hugely viral, and Aslan's book, Zealot, climbed best-sellers lists.

8. Anchor abruptly cuts off interview with Thomas Ricks after he calls Fox a "wing of the Republican Party."

youtube.com

After being prodded about the significance of the deaths involved in the Benghazi fire, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Ricks expresses that the focus on Benghazi has been tied to a political agenda, countering that thousands of contractors had been killed in Iraq to less media attention. After he accuses Fox of "operating as a wing of the Republican Party," the anchor abruptly ends the interview.

7. Fox & Friends airs doctored photos of two New York Times journalists.

en.wikipedia.org

On a 2008 edition of Fox and Friends, Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy aired photos of New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and Times television editor Steven Reddicliffe that seem to have been Photoshopped in order to portray the journalists unflatteringly. The photos depict Steinberg with yellowed teeth, a widened nose and chin and darkened eyes. The other image of Reddicliffe had similar yellow teeth, as well as dark circles and a digitally recessed hairline.

6. In 2008, Fox & Friends calls Mr. Rogers an "evil, evil man" for making kids feel "special."

youtube.com

Six minutes of Fox & Friends airtime are devoted to "this evil, evil man who's ruined a generation of kids." The problem? Rogers tells kids they're special just for being who they are: "Why didn't Mr. Rogers say [to kids], 'You know what, there's a lot of room for improvement. Keep working on yourself! The world owes you nothing.'"

5. Bill O'Reilly screams "shut up!" at Jeremy Glick, son of a 9/11 victim, and cuts off his microphone.

youtube.com

Glick's father was a Port Authority worker who was killed on Sept. 11. But instead of going being angry and calling for blood, Glick argues that it'd be wrong for innocent citizens to die in Afghanistan because Taliban extremists murdered his father. O'Reilly disagrees and gets into a heated fight with Glick, eventually screaming at him to "shut up" and forcing the producers to cut his mic.

O'Reilly later called his interview with Glick his "most offensive" interview ever: "This guy comes in after the attack on 9/11. His father was killed in the World Trade Center, he comes in, he signs an advertisement that says America is a terrorist nation. I get him in here and then he says 'the alleged attack on the World Trade Center,' implying that the U.S. government had something to do with it. I was so angry and appalled, and the 'far-left' has made this guy into a hero, this guy Jeremy Glick, and it was just revolting. And if I could have whacked him, I would have."

4. Glenn Beck suggests Obama and his "communist" cronies want to kill 10% of the population.

Beck says, "People like Bill Ayers, who was OK with killing 10% of the people. The point is to expose these people. We're not this stupid ... there are elements with connections with government officials in the White House right now." (Beck's charges seem linked to Ayers' radical 1970s faction the Weather Underground, which Ayers once said aimed to "kill all rich people.")

3. Liz Trotta asks how much rape is TOO much rape.

youtube.com

Trotta first claims that feminists "want to be warriors and victims at the same time." She then adds that that rising rates of sexual assault in the military are feminists' fault, and that taxpayer dollars are being wasted on a "whole bureaucracy upon bureaucracy being built up with all kinds of levels of people to support women in the military who are now being raped too much." When the host points out that people who serve in the military need to be protected too, Trotta argues that the job of the military is to protect America, not the members of the military itself.

2. Brian Kilmeade & Peter Johnson champion racial profiling and support asking incoming Arab travelers, "Are you here to commit jihad?"

Johnson says in earnest, "What's the interview process? Are we profiling these folks, and looking at them hard and saying, 'Are you really here to go to Lubbock, Texas, and learn something? Or are you here for jihad?'" Kilmeade replies that it's "a fact of life" that if you're from a country like Saudi Arabia, you "need extra checking on your background."

1. Geraldo Rivera blames the Trayvon Martin shooting on hoodies.

youtube.com

"I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was," Rivera said on Fox & Friends shortly after the infamous Florida shooting. After the clip went viral, he later tried to explain his comments on Twitter, but maintained that Martin's hoodie was responsible for his death.