Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee drew mockery on X after sharing an unusual gender-related phrasing in a post praising Fox News personality Maria Bartiromo following news of her exit from the network.
Fox announced Thursday that it was parting ways with Bartiromo, a move that came just hours after the final episode of her namesake program, Mornings with Maria, aired.
The network did not explain the decision, saying only in a statement: ‘We thank Maria for her work over the last 12½ years and wish her all the best on her next chapter.’
Reacting to the announcement, Huckabee, now serving as U.S. ambassador to Israel, called Bartiromo ‘The smartest hardest working journalist & absolutely class act’ in a post on X.
‘It was an honor to work with him/ her and later to be guest on a show always worth watching,’ Huckabee added.
The “him/ her” wording immediately caught the attention of users on X, with critics joking about the mistake and others wondering whether Huckabee had relied on a generic template or AI-generated message.
‘Him/Her? How much of an honor could it have been if you’re uncertain about Maria’s gender?’ one user wrote.
‘WTF is up with the pronouns? Someone needs their sorry a** fired. Was/Were,’ another commenter said.
Fox News star Maria Bartiromo is parting ways with the network after working there for more than a decade. Fox announced the decision on Thursday
Former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee posted a tribute to Bartiromo on X but was ridiculed because he used male and female pronouns to refer to her
Huckabee posted this tweet on Thursday calling Bartiromo ‘him/her.’ Users leapt onto the bizarre use of pronouns
This user and those below mocked Huckabee and speculated that the tribute may have been a canned response or created by AI
‘This is a template and he forgot to delete “him” before posting,’ a third surmised.
‘Must have used ChatGPT,’ a fourth user guessed.
About an hour and a half after posting his flubbed tweet, Huckabee shared a follow-up post apologizing and explaining the mistake.
‘Thanks for catching the “him/her” line!’ the ambassador wrote. ‘I was typing while riding in vehicle on bumpy street–but have NO idea how that came out!
‘Aside from my clumsy typo mistake, I still love @MariaBartiromo & will always have total respect for HER. Just HER, no “him” involved!’ he added.
The majority of users in his replies appear to have accepted the apology and explanation.
In addition to hosting Mornings with Maria on the Fox Business Network, Bartiromo was also an anchor for Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.
Fox announced that the first show will be renamed to Mornings with Fox Business, and the second will be renamed to FBN’s Wall Street. Both will feature a rotating cast of anchors for the foreseeable future.
Huckabee is currently the Ambassador to Israel. He shared a follow-up tweet apologizing for his pronoun flub about an hour and a half after the first post
Huckabee’s apology tweet is pictured in full. Most users in the replies appeared to accept his apology and explanation
Bartiromo has frequently been praised by President Donald Trump and other top members of his administration.
The president has called her a ‘great reporter,’ and when Vice President JD Vance was asked about her departure from Fox on Thursday, he said: ‘I love Maria. I think she’s an amazing person, an amazing talent.’
‘Whatever she does, she’s gonna do great, and I wish her all the best. She’s a very, very dear friend,’ the vice president added.
The former Fox star’s exit from the network came after she emerged as a central figure in two defamation lawsuits against the network.
Bartiromo has been a staunch advocate of Trump’s voter fraud claims and perpetuated the idea that Biden stole the 2020 election on her programs without evidence.
Her comments resulted in a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems, which Fox paid $787.5 million to settle.
Fox parted ways with Bartiromo after she emerged as a central figure in two defamation lawsuits against the network by voting equipment companies
She has also been named in a separate ongoing $2.7 billion defamation suit filed by voting equipment company Smartmatic.
As of Thursday evening, Bartiromo has not publicly addressed her separation from Fox, and her X bio still states that she is an anchor on Mornings with Maria.
