Laura Ingraham was left red-faced after having an awkward hot mic moment while introducing Charlie Kirk on her FOX News show.
“Oh, you son of a bitch!” I heard a disembodied voice curse. – when Ingraham began a live segment with conservative commentators.
The Fox host belatedly spoke up in an unsuccessful attempt to cover up his gaffe on the microphone.
“Now, let’s bring in someone who knows a little bit about this, Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA,” Ingraham said, doing his best to ignore off-camera interruptions.
Ingraham, ever the pro, said this as he moved forward. “Charlie, good to see you. Do you believe that Zuckerberg and the other CEOs have really turned a corner?”
Kirk didn’t seem to hear it and responded, “Well, they’ve turned a corner acting-wise. This is a good first step.”
He went on to say that the environment in the second Trump administration is very different from the first.
“I think we’re going to have Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos on stage, and back in 2017 they were just boycotting the inauguration,” he said. “If you go back to 2017, the first inauguration was met with resistance, marches, protests, people advocating deportation, and they fought Trump tooth and nail… whereas now, in Trump’s second term, there’s really been silence. It’s a bend of the knee.
Fox officials said the comments did not reflect the Turning Point USA founder. Mediaite was told that the staff member had mistakenly responded to another customer’s microphone.
“A sound operator accidentally slid the wrong fader that was assigned to another guest. That guest was adjusting the IFB at the time and said, ‘Oh shit,’ and then It was transmitted to the broadcast,” a source said.
Still, that didn’t stop social media users from trolling the controversial Kirk.
“In all fairness, this is the sound Charlie Kirk makes when he’s on TV,” journalist Aaron Looper wrote in X.
“They should introduce all guests with this audio,” PatriotTakes added.
Fox News has requested comment.
Last November, another Fox host, Bret Baier, also had to deal with a microphone embarrassment after he was heard muttering “Oh, Lord!” off camera. He was talking about the future of the Republican Party.
“The question is, what does the Republican Party look like now? It’s a multiracial party, and from your perspective, it’s working class, and maybe it’s the future. So it’s Elon Musk. It’s Joe・Podcast with Logan.
Mr. Baier could be heard saying Mr. Musk’s name.
