Fox and Friends, committed to covering the issues of the day, had a report Thursday morning on “Talk Like a Pirate Day,” an international holiday held on Sept. 19. The Obama campaign even celebrated the swashbuckling occasion by tweeting a picture of the president posing in the Oval Office with a pirate. “Arrr you in?” the campaign asked in its tweet.
And, cue the conservative headlines. “BUT NO TIME FOR NETANYAHU…” the Drudge Report bannered Wednesday night, below the photo.
“TOO BUSY FOR ISRAEL / PRESIDENT FINDS TIME FOR PIRATE, LETTERMAN,” Fox and Friends’ screen read Thursday. “This pirate got a sit-down in the Oval Office yesterday,” Fox and Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said on-air. “So much for the Middle East peace. The White House doesn’t even have time to meet with Israel, but the president got a private sit-down with a pirate yesterday in the Oval Office. Sorry, Bibi,” Steeve Doocy added.
One small problem: the photo was taken in May 2009 for use as a joke during the White House Correspondents’ dinner.
The Fox and Drudge headlines allude to Obama reportedly denying Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to meet during the United Nations General Assembly. The White House, according to the New York Times, cited scheduling conflicts as the reason the two could not meet. Instead, Obama and Netanyahu recently spoke by phone for about an hour.
Fox and Friends’ Twitter account later acknowledged the photo was not exactly breaking news, but so far no sign of a correction. Fox News did not respond to TPM’s request for comment.
Watch the clip from Thursday morning:
h/t and Drudge screen grab via Media Matters.
