Geraldo Rivera Says He Was a ‘Product of Affirmative Action’ During Final Fox News Appearance (Video)
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Geraldo Rivera signed off at Fox News for good last week, and during his final appearance on the network, he praised the effects that affirmative action had on his career days after the Supreme Court struck down the college admissions policy.
Appearing during a festive sendoff on “Fox and Friends” Friday, in which his colleagues at the conservative news network donned fake mustaches with balloons in the background, Rivera noted that he was a “product of affirmative action” when one of his co-hosts asked him to reflect on how his career in broadcast news has touched the Hispanic community.
“I thank you for the for the opportunity, because affirmative action has just been voted down by the Supreme Court of the United States and a very controversial decision that will impact many people of color,” Rivera said. “I was a product of affirmative action over a half a century ago.”
Also Read:
Geraldo Rivera Says He Quit Fox News After Being Fired From ‘The Five’ (Video)
“When the Ford Foundation and Columbia Journalism School got together to integrate the local news teams in New York, there were no Black reporters, no Hispanic reporters, no women, and it was shocking,” Rivera continued. “And that was as late as 1968, 69. So I was selected. I was making news representing a group of Puerto Rican activists, the Young Lords who had taken over some buildings up in Spanish Harlem. And I was their lawyer and their negotiator. And I made a lot of news as their spokesperson. And so I got discovered that way, and they drafted me through the Columbia program, and the rest is history.”
The Fox News anchor’s final on-air appearance — which was confirmed to be his last by a representative for Fox News, who said the network reached “an amicable conclusion with Geraldo” — also celebrated Rivera’s wide-ranging career, seeming to leave off on a good note despite the back-and-forth revolving Rivera’s departure.
Rivera announced his exit from “The Five” over a week ago due to “a growing tension that goes beyond editorial differences,” though, at the time, said he would remain on as a “correspondent at large.” On Thursday, however, Rivera informed fans on social media that he quit Fox News after being fired from “The Five.”
“So it doesn’t look like I’m gonna be on ‘The Five’ — I mean I’m not gonna be on ‘The Five,’” Rivera said in a video posted Thursday. “I’ve been fired from ‘The Five’ and as a result of that, I quit Fox. So, I’ll have more to say about that on ‘Fox and Friends’ tomorrow morning.”
