In Fox News’ latest gaffe two hosts of ‘The Five’ cracked jokes about a female military pilot from the United Arab Emirates, who is currently participating in bombing campaign against the Islamic State.
On Wednesday, ‘The Five’ co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle saluted Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri on air. The 35-year-old Mansouri is the first female fighter pilot from the UAE. She commands a squadron of F-16 jets which carried out attacks on Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL) positions in Iraq and Syria.
“Hey ISIS, you were bombed by a woman,” Guilfoyle said in the segment. “I hope that hurt extra bad, because in some Arab countries women can’t even drive.”
Another co-host, Greg Gutfield, quipped, "The problem is after she bombed it she couldn't park it."
Then a third, Eric Bolling, jumped in. "Would that be considered boobs on the ground or no?" he asked.
Guilfoyle was visibly upset at the men’s attempts at humor. "Oh my gosh, why did they ruin my thing?" she said as she hung her head.
Maj. Mariam Al Mansouri - 1st female fighter-pilot for #UAE was their team leader in the #Syria strikes Monday night! pic.twitter.com/ToU0GqcofC
— Subha Roy (@Roy_Journo) September 26, 2014
According to the Daily Intelligencer, women having boobs is a bigger thing than women flying planes and bombing brutal Islamic militants.
“There is apparently nothing a woman can do to get some male Fox News commentators to see her as more than just a pair of breasts, up to and including flying a fighter jet in the US-led military operation in Syria," Vox wrote, complaining that the conservative news outlet only respects male troops.
Washington Post blogger Alexandra Petri took Bolling to task for his comments. “And maybe this isn’t a joke. Maybe Bolling just doesn’t understand how these things work,” she wrote in ComBlog. “If you look at his history of questions, he is always asking things like this, questions you wouldn’t ask if you realized what year it was or what people live like now.”
Petri pointed out another Bolling gaffe: “‘Why not play soccer?’ he asked Mo’ne Davis, who is so good at little league baseball that she was ON THE COVER of Sports Illustrated.”
The morons at FoxNews made sexist jokes against UAE female pilot.She's got more balls then u.http://t.co/ndDyH7qxmPpic.twitter.com/3hYSkOJCDV"
— Sara Khan (@SaraKhanInspire) September 26, 2014
Throughout the summer of 2014, Fox News has made major missteps when joking about women. The same August day that Bolling asked Davis about playing “a typically… more female-friendly sport,” Dr. Keith Ablow called First Lady Michelle Obama fat on the show ‘Outnumbered’.
“How well could she be eating? She needs to drop a few. Let’s be honest. We’re taking nutrition advice from who? Well, no let’s be honest, like there’s no french fries happening. Like that’s all kale and carrots. I don’t buy it,” Ablow said.
Previously on ‘Outnumbered’, where a male guest host joins four women, Charles Payne took a turn as the sole male in July, and joked about wearing cufflinks that promoted violence against women. The accessories depicted a caveman dragging a woman into a cave by her hair.
In September, ‘Fox & Friends’ host Brian Kilmeade made another domestic-violence joke after a video of then-Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiance Janay in an elevator.
“The message is, take the stairs,” Kilmeade said.
“The message,” co-host Steve Doocy corrected, “is when you’re in an elevator, there’s a camera.”
On Thursday, Bolling apologized for his crude remark about Mansouri.
“I made a joke and when I got home, I got the look, and realized some people didn’t think it was funny at all,” Bolling said, referring to his wife’s reaction to his comment. “I said sorry to my wife and I apologize to you all and want to make that very clear.”