Fox News anchor apologizes for interrupting Newt Gingrich's anti-Semitic conspiracy theory

Written by Jason Campbell

Published

Fox anchor Harris Faulkner has apologized for halting contributor Newt Gingrich when he pushed an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory involving billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

On the September 16 edition of Fox News’ Outnumbered, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich claimed the “number one problem” in various cities “is George Soros-elected, left-wing, anti-police, pro-criminal district attorneys who refuse to keep people locked up.”

Soros, a Holocaust survivor, has been the consistent target of anti-Semitic attacks on Fox News, but when Gingrich mentioned him this week, he was rebuked by two Outnumbered co-hosts.

From the September 16, 2020, edition of Fox News' Outnumbered

HARRIS FAULKNER (CO-HOST): Speaker Gingrich, I know you have a final thought for us. 

NEWT GINGRICH (FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR): Yeah. Look, the number one problem in almost all these cities is George Soros-elected, left-wing, anti-police, pro-criminal district attorneys who refuse to keep people locked up. Just yesterday, they put somebody back on the street who's wanted for two different murders in New York City. You cannot solve this problem. And both Harris and Biden have talked very proudly about what they call progressive district attorneys. Progressive district attorneys are anti-police, pro-criminal, and overwhelmingly elected with George Soros' money. And they're a major cause of the violence we're seeing because they keep putting the violent criminals back on the street. 

MELISSA FRANCIS (CO-HOST): I'm not sure we need to bring George Soros into this. 

FAULKNER: I was going to say you get the last word, Speaker.

GINGRICH: He paid for it. I mean, why can't we discuss the fact that millions of dollars — 

MARIE HARF (CO-HOST): No, he didn't. I agree with Melissa — George Soros doesn't need to be a part of this conversation. 

GINGRICH: OK. So it's verboten.

FAULKNER: OK. We're going to move on. 

On the following day’s edition of Outnumbered, Faulkner apologized for the interruptions and said Gingrich is “beloved.”

From the September 17, 2020, edition of Fox News' Outnumbered Overtime

HARRIS FAULKNER (CO-HOST): So, we had a little incident on the show yesterday that was not smooth. And while I was leading that segment, we had interruptions, and I sat silently while all of that played out. Also not ideal. Our guest, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who is beloved and needed to be allowed to speak with the openness and respect that this show is all about, was interrupted. Do we debate with fire here? Yes. But we must also give each other the space to express ourselves. As the only original member of the six-year-old amazing daytime ride known as Outnumbered, I especially want to rock 'n' roll with every voice and perspective at the table. We don't censor on this show, and that's why we are winning weekdays at noon. 

There was widespread of condemnation of Gingrich following his bigoted tirade. Foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) Matt Duss called his comment anti-Semitic. National affairs correspondent for The Nation Jeet Heer said Gingrich was “playing with some very dangerous things” in his rant. And activist and author Amy Siskind called for Gingrich to apologize for his “anti-Semitic dog whistle.”

Fox has already had to apologize for a guest using the network to spread anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about Soros. In December 2018, Fox Business apologized for Rep. Louie Gohmert’s (R-TX) on-air statement that “George Soros is supposed to be Jewish, but you wouldn’t know it from the damage he’s inflicted on Israel.” Additionally, former frequent guests lawyers Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing disappeared from Fox News after spreading an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Soros controlled the U.S. State Department. Now, a Fox host is apologizing to a guest that he was “interrupted” while he spread those same anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.