“Fox & Friends” co-host Steve Doocy told viewers Friday that the reason he and his colleagues were still working from home and not heeding their own calls to get “back to work” was governmental restriction — which he corrected shortly after.
“People have had it up to here. We’re sick of being closed. We’re ready to move on but — Ainsley, Brian — all of us are in really restrictive areas right now and that’s why we are not all sitting together on the same couch, or even in the same studio: Because the governments won’t let us right now,” said Doocy, who broadcasted alongside Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade from Fox News’ Manhattan studio before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
In New York, however, news media is considered an essential business, meaning “the governments” can’t direct anyone in that industry to stay home. News organizations have taken it on themselves to decide when to reopen their bureaus. Fox News leadership has been communicating with employees through the crisis and at one point hoped to have them all back in the offices by May 4, which obviously didn’t happen.
Still, some talent, like Bill Hemmer and Greg Gutfeld, chose to remain working in the Fox News studios. Just across the street from Fox News’ headquarters, Savannah Guthrie made no secret of working from NBC News’ studios when she returned to “Today” after quarantining, either.
Later on Friday’s show, Doocy retracted the statement, saying, “I need to clarify: We are simply following the government protocols and guidelines. Ultimately, if you are lucky enough that you can work from home, you should.”
Watch his initial comments below:
Brian Kilmeade says to "people who are critical of us" that NYC is actually "one of the safest places to be … because they cleared everybody out." Ainsley Earhardt replies that he only means that "theoretically … I don't want people to hear that and go back and get sick." pic.twitter.com/9G34jvkGt7
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) May 22, 2020