Earlier this week, Fox News host Eric Bolling gigglingly referred to the UAE’s first female fighter pilot, Mariam Al Mansouri, as “boobs on the ground,” because she is a woman and he is a moron. (This came right after his colleague Greg Gutfield joked about Al Mansouri’s ability to park her aircraft, for the same reasons mentioned above.) Following criticism, including some from breast-having Fox News colleague Greta Van Susteren, Bolling was forced to say he was sorry. “I made a joke and when I got home, I got the look. I said sorry to my wife and I apologize to you all and want to make that very clear,” he said. A guy has to at least try to keep the ol’ ball-and-chain happy, amirite?
Unfortunately for Bolling, that wasn’t enough for the people who continued complaining about the incident to his employers, so he apologized again on Friday. “Fox News has received letters from viewers including from women in the military and I’m taking them to heart,” he said. “Therefore, let me speak clearly and sincerely. I’m sorry for what I said. I believe that Major Al Mansouri is a hero. She’s courageous, brave and she deserves our praise and not inappropriate jokes. She has my admiration and my very, very sincere gratitude.”
During the same segment, Gutfield addressed his own “parking” quip but avoided apologizing for it, saying regular viewers should know he “makes very hacky jokes knowing that they are hacky.” “And of course, women in the UAE can drive. That’s the real joke,” he added. “They can drive, and I can’t. I don’t even have a driver’s license.” Brave.
Meanwhile, 60 male and female American veterans affiliated with the progressive Truman Project wrote an open letter to Bolling and Gutfield in which they called their remarks “unwarranted, offensive, and fundamentally opposed to what the military taught us to stand for.” They also suggested that the Fox bros’ attitudes could weaken the global fight against ISIS: “We need to send a clear message that anyone, male or female, who will stand up to ISIS and get the job done is worthy of our respect and gratitude.” Unlike, say, a 51-year-old man who still cannot resist a boob joke in any situation and a self-identified hack who can’t drive.
