Fox News host Jeanine Pirro was caught on a hot mic Tuesday disparaging her network for the way it controls her schedule.
Pirro, 68, had called in for an interview with former White House aide Sebastian Gorka on the Salem Radio Network. She appeared not to realize, despite Gorka mentioning it, that their mics were live on YouTube between live radio segments.
After Gorka said he would love to have Pirro in the studio, she said, “Oh good. I love it. I would love it. We’ll see if they let me. You know Fox reviews everything. They’re unbelievable.”
Gorka suggested that she could have more flexibility in her schedule with a new book out, to which Pirro said, “No. They’re still saying you cannot do Bill O’Reilly, you cannot do Newsmax, you cannot do — oh no.”
She added, “You know what, they suspended me. And I’m not going to get fired. You know I’m worried that that suspension was the basis to tee up for anything I do wrong, they’ll fire me.”
Gorka replied, “Keep doing what you do, keep doing what you do,” before telling Pirro they had 90 seconds left before going back live on the radio and then he took off his headphones.
The video clip was captured by left-wing website Media Matters for America. A Fox News representative did not immediately return a request for comment.
amazing. on sebastian gorka’s show, jeanine pirro admitted during a commercial break that she was suspended by fox news https://t.co/K6zfPad8Ld pic.twitter.com/uBDYvyNGUF
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) September 3, 2019
Pirro went off the air for two weeks in March after she questioned whether Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Islamic faith is in opposition to the Constitution during the opening program of her Saturday evening program.
Some advertisers cut ties after the comments stirred controversy and CNN reported that a source heard Pirro had been suspended. A Fox News representative told the Washington Examiner in a statement at the time, “We’re not commenting on internal scheduling matters.”
The network reacted to her remarks in a statement, saying, “We strongly condemn Jeanine Pirro’s comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar. They do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly.”
During her absence, President Trump called on Fox News to bring Pirro back on the air, tweeting at the cable news network to not allow the “radical” Left to silence one of his most prominent advocates.
Pirro returned to air after two weeks, delivering a fiery monologue railing against special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
