A Fox News host apologized on Thursday after a guest compared Hillary Clinton to Herpes.
On Thanksgiving, Fox News aired a segment discussing the recent New York Times report that President Trump considered ordering the Department of Justice to prosecute Hillary Clinton. To talk about the case against Clinton, Fox Host Rick Leventhal introduced Anna Paulina as the director of Hispanic engagement at Turning Point USA.
It appeared that Paulina expected to talk about border issues and Leventhal attempted to direct the conversation to Clinton’s emails.
“I am amazed that with everything going on in the world, we still have Hillary Clinton in the headlines,” Leventhal said.
“She won’t go away. She’s like herpes.” Paulina responded.
Leventhal, clearly uncomfortable, attempted to change the topic while producers cut Paulina off the air.
“Okay, that’s news that we are breaking here,” he said. “Not appropriate…”
Leventhal continued with political analyst Doug Schoen, and apologized for “some of the language that was used in the segment.”
At the end of the segment on Thursday, anchor Arthel Neville apologized again on the behalf of the network for Paulina’s statement.
“We want to reiterate that we do not condone the language that Anna Paulina just displayed here, and we apologize to Secretary Clinton for that,” she said. “Fox News does not condone her sentiment. It’s Thanksgiving guys, lighten up. Come on!”
On Friday, Paulina issued an apology for her statement and claimed she was placed on the wrong segment.
“Yesterday on Fox, I was placed on the wrong segment & in the confusion made a brash and unprofessional joke,” Paulina tweeted. “To Fox and those watching, I am deeply sorry.”
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Write to Gina Martinez at gina.martinez@time.com