Fox News Apologizes For Misleading Kneeling Photo

(AP Photo)

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz called out Fox News for using photos of players kneeling in pregame prayer during a segment about the team’s canceled Super Bowl visit to the White House, calling it “propaganda.”

According to The Washington Post, the network later apologized for showing the footage, which was unrelated to the NFL’s national anthem demonstrations, during its report on the rescinded visit.

Ertz and his Eagles teammates were shown kneeling in several photos during the Fox News segment, but Ertz said the players were kneeling in prayer, not to raise awareness of social injustice and police brutality issues, as other players have done.

Ertz spotted the photos in the Fox report, tweeting Tuesday morning:

This can’t be serious.... Praying before games with my teammates, well before the anthem, is being used for your propaganda?! Just sad, I feel like you guys should have to be better than this... https://t.co/kYeyH2zXdK

— Zach Ertz (@ZERTZ_86) June 5, 2018

 Ertz’s tweet quickly was shared on social media, gathering more than 83,000 likes and 33,000 retweets within six hours. And by midmorning, the network had apologized for the report on “Fox News at Night with Shannon Bream.”