Culture

Fox News Apologizes for Confusing John Lewis for Elijah Cummings

'TECHNICAL SNAFU'

The third time in a year that Fox confused one famous black person for another.

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During Thursday morning's broadcast of America’s Newsroom, Fox News co-anchor Eric Shawn issued an apology for airing a clip that confused one black congressman for another.

“A few moments ago we had a technical snafu,” Shawn said. “We aired a clip of John Lewis of Georgia and mistakenly labeled him as Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings. Of course, we regret that error and apologize.” (The error came despite the fact that Lewis’ name plate was in full view during the clip.)

This is the third time in a year that Fox has confused one famous black person for another. Last summer, following the death of R&B legend Aretha Franklin, the network aired an obituary featuring the image of singer Patti LaBelle. And earlier this year, The Five co-host Jesse Watters was famously embarrassed after confusing CBS anchor Gayle King with ABC’s Robin Roberts.

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