How Jesse Jackson's Comments Almost Slipped By

How Jesse Jackson's Comments Almost Slipped By

The news that the Rev. Jesse Jackson took a crude swipe at Sen. Barack Obama this week put renewed scrutiny on the relationship between the veteran civil rights activist and Democratic presidential contender.

But Jackson's vulgar criticism of Obama came close to going unreported.

Jackson made the comments to a guest before an interview on Sunday's "Fox & Friends," whispering that Obama was "talking down to black people" and that Jackson wanted to "cut his nuts off."

The comments went unnoticed in the control room, Bill Shine, Fox News' senior vice president for programming, said Thursday.

The scathing remarks first came to the attention of an employee working the overnight shift Sunday, who transcribed the tape as part of training for the network's ongoing digital conversion. Otherwise, "it potentially would have not been discovered," Shine said.

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