Fox News cuts away from WH press briefing after graphic Portland rioting video shown
Fox News briefly cut away from Friday’s White House daily briefing shortly after press secretary Kayleigh McEnany showed a video presentation focusing on violence and rioting in Portland, Ore.
WATCH: Fox News cuts away from White House press briefing after McEnany shows footage of Portland riots pic.twitter.com/I2H3uBPK6O
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“All right, we were not expecting that video, and our management here at Fox News has decided we will pull away from that at this time,” anchor Harris Faulkner informed viewers on Friday afternoon as the network cut away from the briefing room back to its New York headquarters.
The video in question included graffiti reading “F— cops” and a graphic confrontation between a woman and police officers.
Faulkner later further explained the network decided to pull away because it was not aware the video was coming.
“I want to address a decision that was made by Fox News management a few minutes ago as we pulled away from the video that we were not told would air and how it would be edited with some things on screen that we wanted a heads up about,” Faulkner said.
“That is part and full of what went on there [in Portland]. But I can’t go on without addressing that,” she continued.
“We’re approaching the top of the hour. The White House press briefing is something that is important for us to carry for you, and so a heads up at those times with videos like that in the middle of the day sometimes is helpful,” the anchor added.
The network later issued a statement.
“FOX News was not provided with any advance warning that a video using profanity would air during this afternoon’s White House press briefing,” a Fox News spokesperson said in a statement provided to The Hill. “Once it aired, FOX News made the decision it was inappropriate for a daytime audience and temporarily dropped out of coverage.”
Fox News returned to the briefing when McEnany began taking questions from reporters.
In the video, a woman has seen using profanity against police.
“I hope someone kills your whole f—ing family,” the woman says in the video to Portland officers. “I hope someone burns down your whole precinct with all y’all inside. Can’t wait to see it.”
“As you can see, that is anything but a peaceful protest,” McEnany said after the view aired.
The White House has come under criticism for sending federal police to Portland to deal with demonstrations, even as local officials say they do not want them in their city.
The administration says the police are there to protect federal property, but the actions have come under criticism from Democrats and GOP Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.).
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