Things got cringey on Fox News this week after the network accidentally aired someone saying, "Oh s**t" on a hot mic while host Laura Ingraham was in the middle of introducing guest Charlie Kirk of the conservative activist group Turning Point USA during a segment about corporate leaders who've aligned themselves with President-elect Donald Trump.
Ingraham ignored the interruption, saying:
“Charlie, it’s great to see you. Um, do you trust that Zuckerberg and these other CEOs have really turned a corner?”
Kirk responded:
“Well, they’ve performatively turned a corner, which is a good first step."
You can hear it in the video below.
It didn't appear that Ingraham and Kirk were even aware of the incident but a source at Fox News who spoke to Mediaite said it only was audible to the Fox audience because of an accident involving another guest’s microphone.
They said:
“The audio operator accidentally slid the wrong fader which was allotted for a different guest. That guest in turn was adjusting his IFB at the time and said ‘oh s**t which was accidentally transmitted on the air.”
Footage of the moment quickly went viral and people mocked the network in response.
Kirk used his appearance to praise Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and X owner Elon Musk—slated to co-lead the non-existent Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—for aligning themselves with Trump, saying their stance displays "acquiescence" and is a sign that they're "bending the knee."
During his farewell speech on Wednesday, President Joe Biden warned Americans that our democracy is sliding into an “oligarchy” of tech billionaires:
"Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead. We've seen the consequences all across America, and we've seen it before."
He specifically called out social media companies, cautioning against the emergence of a "tech industrial complex," which he likened to the "military industrial complex" that President Dwight D. Eisenhower famously warned about in his 1961 farewell address.
Because of their influence, "truth is smothered by lies, told for power and for profit," he said, actions that have contributed to the decline of the free press.
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