Fox News and its staffers on Tuesday condemned Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro's appearance and participation at President Donald Trump's rally in Missouri Monday night.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Fox said the network does not "condone" Hannity and Pirro's presence at the event and that the optics of it have been a "distraction."
"Fox News does not condone any talent participating in campaign events. We have an extraordinary team of journalists helming our coverage tonight and we are extremely proud of their work. This was an unfortunate distraction and has been addressed."
The person declined to comment on how Fox addressed the situation internally, if at all. Fox staffers, however, are not happy about what their high-powered colleagues did.
"People throughout the company think a new line was crossed," one employee anonymously told CNN Business.
"It disturbs me to my core," another said. "I am so f---ing mad."
A third Fox employee said they "never expected" to see Hannity and Pirro joining Trump on stage.
The network's silence speaks volumes.
Hannity and his conservative counterparts at Fox News have become an echo chamber for Trump and his divisive, nationalistic messaging.
Though many feel journalistic integrity is at stake, it's important to keep in mind something Hannity once said about himself and his show.
"I'm not a journalist jackass," Hannity tweeted to a critic in 2016. "I'm a talk host."
We know.
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