Fox News gets itself into lather over deadly sniper

Fox News presenter Elisabeth Hasselbeck could not hide her admiration for a US army sniper who killed 33 people in four months in Afghanistan.

Welcoming former sergeant Nick Irving on to Fox and Friends today, she said: "You know, I'm looking at your résumé here... it's good to have you on our side, I'll say."

Snipers are suddenly in vogue at the moment, with the Clint Eastwood-directed American Sniper a massive hit in the US, and Irving has a new autobiography out called The Reaper, the title of which references his nickname in the army.

During a fawning interview, Hasselbeck, who previously embarrassed herself while trying and failing to get a public health expert to scaremonger about Ebola, brought up film director Michael Moore's comments on Twitter.

The exchange that followed went as such:

Irving:

Last time I checked, he's never shot anybody with a scoped rifle. So, I don't think he deserves the breath that comes out of me right now.

Hasselbeck:

Don't you believe that he should have maybe turned that into somewhat of a thank you? I mean, here you are protecting everybody here, you know, the one per cent protecting the 99. All those kills are really to keep us safe. Don't you think he owes you a thank you, not a shot?

Irving:

I don't really care what he gives me a thank you or not. A lot of good guys and a lot of my friends died for his right I guess to freedom of speech.

Hasselbeck:

You're a good man to take the high road there. Your story is incredible. The Reaper, you're known as. A gentleman, you were today, of course, on Fox and Friends.

Right...

Watch a video of the segment below:

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