A Fox News anchor has made a major blunder during her cringeworthy coverage of Hurricane Ian.
Martha MacCallum, a news host who was been working with Fox News since 2004, was discussing the tropical storm with her colleagues on air Wednesday (September 28). The ongoing storm had reached a Category 4 level and has left 2 million people without power after causing tides of more than six feet in Florida.
Many people have taken to Twitter to post photos and videos of Hurricane Ian. One user shared a timelapse of the storm that has over 5 million views. "I've been capturing video from this webcam in Fort Myers all day and I've put it into a timelapse. Check out the storm surge rushing in! Crazy," the caption reads.
However, MacCallum inadvertently stole the show during the live coverage by implying that Puerto Rico - which is a US territory - was not part of the United States.
"You feel terrible for people in Puerto Rico who were just hit, and Cuba who were just hit. Thank God we have better infrastructure in our country, we've put a lot of investment into make sure that we're ready for these things," she is heard saying in the live coverage.
Unfortunately, this was mercilessly mocked on Twitter, with many people tweeting about the embarrassing blunder and MacCallum's comment on American infrastructure.
"I don't know what kind of infrastructure survives 155+ mph winds and rain," someone wrote.
While another user added: "'In OUR country...' Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory since 1898. Who wants to tell her?"
"Puerto Rico is our country and there's few areas in the continental US that aren't one severe weather event away from looking like The Walking Dead," a third user chimed in.
"Also the difference between islands and the continental US? Key West has fine infrastructure, but would get destroyed by a direct hit from a major storm just like Cuba and Puerto Rico," another wrote.
One social media user even suggested that MacCallum doesn't know Puerto Ricans are US citizens, tweeting: "Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum doesn't appear to know that Puerto Rico, an unincorporated U.S. territory, is part of the United States.
"Logically, it follows that she doesn't know that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens."
Some Twitter users defended MacCallum, noting that the media should be focusing on the fact that the POTUS, Joe Biden, asked whether a deceased congresswoman was in attendance at a recent White House event.
One user tweeted: "[Joe Biden] calls for a deceased politician to stand up in a speech and you're going after Martha MacCallum? [Maybe] she was referencing Cuba since it was mentioned with Puerto Rico. This is all you could come up with given everything that's going on?"
According to the New York Times' live tracker on Hurricane Ian, the storm may potentially move up towards South Carolina, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
