NEW YORK—In an embarrassing moment for the conservative morning show, “Fox & Friends”used archival footage of “Duck Dynasty”star and rightwing icon Phil Robertson during a segment in Tuesday’s broadcast in which the anchors criticized the scruffy appearance of Robert Bergdahl, father of recently released POW Bowe Bergdahl.
“You wonder why, given the fact that a couple of years ago they had already discounted him as a deserter, why would the president of the United States embrace his family in the Rose Garden?” Fox News host Steve Doocy opined as footage from “Duck Dynasty” rolled on screen. “Even if we’re wrong, even if this wasn’t a desertion, his father clearly is in no condition to be presented with the president.”
“You just don’t put a man who looks like that on TV,” Doocy added as the image shifted to archive material from a September visit by “Fox & Friends” to Robertson’s Louisiana home.
The editing team at “Fox & Friends”evidently confused Robert Bergdahl with Phil Robertson. Both men have long, unkempt beards and long hair.
Co-host Brian Kilmeade accused the elder Bergdahl of slovenliness. “Really?” Kilmeade asked, as a promo trailer for the hit A&E show ran. “I mean, he says he was growing his beard because his son was in captivity. Well, your son’s out now. So if you really don’t — no longer look like a member of the Taliban, you don’t have to look like a member of the Taliban.”
“Are you out of razors?” Kilmeade asked as the shot changed to the infamous video of Robertson delivering a homophobic sermon.
According to reports, Robert Bergdahl had grown out his beard to clock the time since his son’s disappearance and to win some sympathy from his captors.
