Fox News is not exactly known for their nuanced (or accurate) takes on politic discourse. Jeanine Pirro, specifically, has a reputation for saying such nonsensical things that it’s earned her a running bit on Saturday Night Live. But on Wednesday, Pirro managed to cross a line when discussing the 2020 election and Joe Biden's role in it.
Pirro appeared on the Fox News show The Five on Wednesday night to discuss Biden’s first public appearance with his running mate, Kamala Harris. The hosts were discussing a poll from a right-wing news site that found over half of people surveyed did not think Biden would finish his first term, were he elected. Pirro then weighed in, making some confusing and outrageous claims about whether or not anyone would even get to vote for the Democratic nominee.
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“Joe Biden isn’t going to be on the ticket,” she said. “I have a sense that something’s gonna happen before the election and he’s not even going to be on the ticket. So don’t even ask me if he’s gonna make the four years.”
"Something is going to happen before the election and he's not even going to be on the ticket" -- Jeanine Pirro predicts something horrible will happen to Joe Biden in the next 2+ months pic.twitter.com/dVQ3ImHfb3
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 12, 2020
But before Pirro, a former New York State judge and District Attorney, tried to walk back her comment, one of her co-hosts pushed back by explaining that Biden was the confirmed nominee. "You’re saying he doesn’t make it all the way. The bumper stickers are already printed. It is Biden-Harris. He is going to be the nominee next week," host Bret Baier said. “I respect Judge Jeanine’s opinions and her fiery passions about things,” he added. Former White House press secretary Dana Perino, who was also on the segment, can be overheard saying, “Oh, man” towards the end of Pirro’s comments.
Pirro later assured viewers that she wished Biden “all good health” and clarified that “things are so crazy right now” and she “[doesn’t] know what’s happening in the Democrat Party.” But the damage had already been done. Pirro’s comments were ominous and entirely inappropriate, with people on Twitter pointing out that it sounded an awful lot like a threat, with many even suggesting the FBI or Secret Service get involved.
But this isn't the first time Pirro has made blatantly false — or even dangerous — claims about Democratic leaders on air. In 2019, she falsely reported that Nancy Pelosi was "partying with a bunch of Democrats" in Puerto Rico when she was actually in Washington, D.C. In March of that same year, Fox News suspended Pirro for questioning the religious beliefs of Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Pirro's track record on Fox News speaks for itself, but in such a tumultuous time, her comments about Biden are particularly alarming. To go on a primetime television show that gets millions of viewers and speculate on the health and livelihood of a presidential candidate without any evidence or facts to support your babbling is wholly irresponsible, even for a network like Fox News that isn’t necessarily beholden to the truth. When even your Fox News co-hosts are appalled by what you’ve said, it’s a pretty good indicator that you’ve gone way too far.