Bob Beckel, a pundit known for his outrageous and often racist comments as a panelist on the Fox News show “The Five,” has been hired by CNN, as reported Wednesday by The Daily Beast.
During his time at Fox, Beckel served as a “liberal” voice on the conservative news channel. But he often made remarks that could be considered racist and sexist. He once called a woman on the reality show “The Bachelorette” a “slut” for sleeping with a contestant. He challenged a conservative author to a knife fight.
He referred to Chinese hackers as “Chinamen” and he proudly proclaimed that he was an “Islamophobe.”
Beckel later apologized for his “Chinamen” remark and once tweeted for forgiveness for “things” he said on air and that his Fox boss wasn’t happy.
Said some things on Five I regret Fox boss not happy don’t blame them. Meant no harm but no excuse Forgive me
— Robert G Beckel (@RobertGBeckel) August 2, 2014
The “Chinamen” comment got Beckel some backlash and Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) called for his removal. The congressman later said Beckel deserved another chance (and his job) after he apologized.
Mediaite reported in June that Beckel didn’t return to Fox’s “The Five” after a four-month absence for back surgery and rehab for a drug addiction developed because of the drugs he took to recover from the procedure.
“We tried to work with Bob for months, but we couldn’t hold ‘The Five’ hostage to one man’s personal issues,” Fox’s executive vice president of programming Bill Shine reportedly said in a statement at the time.
Beckel will now be a political commentator for CNN and will soon release his book, “I Should Be Dead: My Life Surviving Politics, TV, and Addiction.”
