Geraldo Rivera’s attempts to defend his former Fox News boss Roger Ailes didn’t go as planned for the mustachioed journalist. Minutes after Ailes resigned from his post as Chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel — amid a sexual harassment suit from Gretchen Carlson — Rivera fired off a tweet that backed his boss and questioned the whole situation.
Oh the grotesque unfairness of life
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) July 21, 2016
The tweet at first glance may seem ambiguous, but the timing coincided with Ailes’ firing, and Geraldo is anything but shy about expressing his opinion. Just days earlier, Rivera sent out another tweet defending Ailes.
Don't believe the crap about #RogerAiles. Only ones talking dirt are those who hate #FoxNews & want to hurt network that's kicking their ass
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) July 19, 2016
So it is pretty clear he was being anything but ambiguous. It’s not uncommon for employees to defend their boss, as a number of other Fox News correspondents have come to Ailes’ defense. But the way Rivera worded his tweet didn’t sit well with too many people, and the internet was just not having any of it:
SO true. Like the time I saw this and knew the universe was cruel and cold… pic.twitter.com/dpoTTH6hS5
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 21, 2016
.@GeraldoRivera Stay classy bruh pic.twitter.com/t2O0UWvkK3
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) July 21, 2016
He gets to resign w/$40M bonus & no legal consequences after 20+ women have come forward. Life *is* grotesquely unfair.
— Julie S. (@Juliess31) July 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/joel_newport/status/756231602062196736
https://twitter.com/Clarknt67/status/756275678719475712
Ailes is getting a pretty sweet deal after resigning, but Rivera still picked those words to describe the situation. But hey, it’s not like a tweet hasn’t blown up in his face before.