Trump cuts aid to ‘3 Mexican countries’: Fox & Friends mocked for geography blunder
Fox & Friends displayed a graphic on Sunday referring to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras as "3 Mexican countries." The hosts swiftly apologized for the blunder, but the show and the network were not spared online mockery.
The Sunday morning show applauded Donald Trump's move to cut off aid to the Northern Triangle of Central American countries, accompanying the discussion with a simple, yet colorful chyron reading, "Trump Cuts US Aid to 3 Mexican Countries."
The erroneous – to put it mildly – lower third was displayed for a good 30 seconds. Later in the segment, the hosts acknowledged the mistake and apologized for it. The chyron was fixed afterwards, and the countries were correctly described as 'Central American'.
"Now we want to clarify and correct something that happened earlier in the show," co-host Ed Henry said later. "We had an inaccurate graphic onscreen while talking about this very story. We just want to be clear, the funding is being cut off to the three Central American countries. We apologize for the error – it never should've happened."
Yet it did happen, and was promptly picked up by social media for joke and meme purposes. Naturally, a Twitter account dedicated to Fox's blunders was among the first to mock the graphic.
How Stupid Is @foxandfriends?'Trump Cuts U.S. Aid To 3 Mexican Countries'🤦♀️ @edhenry@PeteHegsethpic.twitter.com/taJwXhjEt8
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) 31 марта 2019 г.
4/ North America – according to @FoxNewspic.twitter.com/LxWtHf1N0N
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) 31 марта 2019 г.
The error was so bad that many refused to believe it was genuine and had to double check.
This is an actual banner from "Fox & Friends Weekend." 6:03am today. I double checked because I didn't believe it at first. Hat tip @BadFoxGraphicspic.twitter.com/tTNH0Y7a25
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) 31 марта 2019 г.
is that a real chyron...?.........I would like to congratulate Mexico on its successful cloning process. I'm just kind of curious if the other two Mexicos will go elsewhere on the map or just stack up on top of the original.
— Angry Moderate 2020 (@PaulWartenberg) 31 марта 2019 г.
Some users accused Fox and its watchers of "bigotry" and claimed that the graphic perfectly reflected what the channel actually thinks.
i think they're doing this on purpose. they know their audience. "Mexican" is a far more incendiary word to their audience.
— Daniel Nicolae Dubei (@dandubei) 31 марта 2019 г.
They were inspired by this meme of the average Fox and Friends viewer. pic.twitter.com/9gZY5bmVwC
— Donald Leroy (@TheTeflonDon) 31 марта 2019 г.
They're not stupid. But they know their viewers are. "Mexican" is a buzzword that riles their viewers whereas "central american" would fly over their heads. Absolutely done on purpose
— Rich (@jackbastard) 31 марта 2019 г.
Two options - 1) They have to play “down” to their base audience or 2) They are as ignorant as their base audience. #option3both
— Thomas Felton (@theNFLton) 31 марта 2019 г.
Many began speculating what exactly the "3 Mexican countries" might be.
North Mexico, South Mexico, and Central Mexico...duh.
— Kristen Lindsey (@KristenLindse20) 31 марта 2019 г.
That is really funny, though of course it was a simple mistake. Everyone knows there’s like 32 Mexican countries.... :)
— Kyle Hanes (@howtofixanoutc1) 31 марта 2019 г.
Many joked about the consequences the faulty graphic might have for US foreign policy, saying that Fox News is actually the main source of information for Trump himself – as the president has repeatedly and openly expressed his approval of the network.
Now Trump’s really gonna be pissed:“How come Mexico gets three countries and we get only one??? NOT FAIR!!!”
— Richard Frankel (@frankelrichard1) 31 марта 2019 г.
So now I see the confusion which one of these 3 suppose to pay for the wall
— OtherPplMoney (@OtherPplMoney) 31 марта 2019 г.
Some, however, rallied to Fox's support, dismissing the blunder as an "honest mistake."
@foxandfriends Honest mistakeUnlike #MSM and their 24/7 #FakeNews
— IRISHLADY_2018 OVERTURN ROE V WADE (@IRISHLADY_2018) 31 марта 2019 г.
The graphic was likely created by an intern. The hosts got the information correct. They issued a correction later in the show. This is really a non-story, but the media cannot resist attacks on the consistently #1 cable network.
— Lovin'Life (@LakeLifeIsGreat) 31 марта 2019 г.
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