Massachusetts Sen. Barbara L’Italien Somehow Ended Up in a Pro-ICE Fox Segment

This is incredible. @FoxFriendsFirst thought they booked pro-ICE Dem Ann Kirkpatrick on show, but accidentally booked Barbara L’Italien
(@teambarbara) instead.

L’Italien delivers personal message to Trump saying “we must stop abducting children… stop putting kids in cages.” pic.twitter.com/OnVAdBVjJB

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 23, 2018

Massachusetts state Sen. Barbara L’Italien says Fox has only itself to blame for a bizarre, and hilarious, mix-up that gave her the chance to speak directly to the president on his favorite news channel.

In a video clip that has been widely shared this morning, the local politician is introduced as a guest on the show Fox & Friends First as Ann Kirkpatrick, a former Congresswoman and current Democratic candidate who has come out in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Except, it wasn’t Kirkpatrick. It was L’Italien, who appeared on a webcam and seized her moment with a message she said was for Trump:

“I’m a mother of four, and I believe that separating kids from their parents is illegal and inhumane,” she said. “We have to stop abducting children and ripping them from their parents’ arms, stop putting kids in cages, and stop making 3-year-olds defend themselves in court.”

The moment came to close as the TV hosts, who were expecting to serve their audience a pro-ICE segment, quickly cut off her feed. “That didn’t go as planned,” one of them said.

In a statement, Fox said framed the mix-up as an act of deception:

This morning we invited Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick to appear on Fox & Friends First through her press contact on file Joe Katz, who accepted the invitation on Kirkpatrick’s behalf. Katz followed with an email confirming the segment, which also included background information and a campaign logo for Ann Kirkpatrick. During the actual segment, Barbara L’Italien, appeared on camera instead of Kirkpatrick. Despite speaking to producers prior to the interview, L’Italien did not identify herself as anything other than Kirkpatrick until she was live on air, at which point we ended the interview.

But a spokesperson for L’Italien, who is also running for Congress in the Third District said in a statement the goof was on Fox, and that the network contacted her office by mistake “due to their own failure of due diligence.”

“Fox News is where you go when you want to talk to Donald Trump, and Barbara felt she had an obligation to her constituents to take advantage of that opportunity. But this would not have happened to an actual news station,” someone in her office told ThinkProgress. “Fox’s lack of attention to the facts normally is a disaster for the country, it just so happened that today it was embarrassing for them.”

She also posted a longer clip to Twitter of what she intended to say on air, had the surprise appearance not been cut short.

I’ve always fought for vulnerable people, and in Congress I will use every opportunity I have to make sure powerful people like @realDonaldTrump hear their voices. Here’s the full statement I would’ve given @FoxNews if I hadn’t been cut off. #ma3 #mapoli https://t.co/SAe7HoBVRV

— Barbara L’Italien (@teambarbara) July 23, 2018