‘Fox & Friends’ Make A Pregnancy Joke To Mock Bernie Sanders And Minimum Wage

Fox & Friends ran a segment Friday morning about Senator Bernie Sanders and his proposed minimum wage increase. While the discussion between co-host Steve Doocy and contributor Charles Hurt was standard Fox News talking points, the framing was noticeably odd.

The Fox hosts teased the segment before going to commercial with a graphic showing Sanders on a background of money with a red fist grabbing some dollar bills. The text read: Bernie’s ‘Labor’ Pains. The word ‘Labor’ was in bright red.

Though the show didn’t use the graphic again, it was on screen long enough for viewers to notice the obvious pregnancy-themed joke. The decision seems bizarre. Someone at Fox News had to make a decision about what graphic to use for a brief teaser and apparently thought comparing Sanders’ policy to giving birth was appropriate.

Fox News doesn’t pull any punches in its attempts to mock President Donald Trump’s opponents, but a joke about women giving birth may be beyond good taste, especially for a network that often emphasizes its commitment to family values and even motherhood.

The deliberate use of air quotes – ‘Labor’ – is also a telling feature – as if the meaning of the joke wasn’t clear enough. The effect of the graphic was to frame the whole issue as little more than a joke, while using the experience of pregnancy as a frame to mock a presidential candidate and potentially accuse him of being effeminate.

Watch the clip above, via Fox News.