MSNBC chief Phil Griffin laid into Fox News for skipping President Obama's gun control speech on Wednesday (see update below).
After the Senate failed to pass a proposal for expanded background checks, Obama held a late-afternoon press conference to express his dissatisfaction. Broadcast networks including ABC, CBS and NBC interrupted their regular programming to bring viewers the press conference. MSNBC and CNN did the same. Fox News, however, did not air the press conference at all and kept with its regular programming, "The Five."
The New York Times' Brian Stelter reported on Thursday about Fox News' decision, in which Griffin called the move "a disgrace."
At the end of "The Five," co-host Greg Gutfeld apologized to viewers for the way the show handled Obama's press conference. "I think that should have been handled better," he said.
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords stood behind the president as he delivered his remarks from the White House rose garden on Wednesday. Giffords penned an op-ed that ran in Thursday's New York Times on the Senate's failure to pass the extended background checks amendment. "Speaking is physically difficult for me. But my feelings are clear: I’m furious," she wrote.
UPDATE: 4:15 p.m. -- Fox News responded to Griffin in a statement. TVNewser reported Fox News as saying, "Phil’s network of partisan pundits have to rely on the talents of Brian Williams and NBC News to cover basic news events. So him calling anything a disgrace in regards to news coverage is ironic considering he oversees one daily."