Fox News host Greg Gutfeld has been slammed after calling for “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, whose 84-year-old mother Nancy has been missing for 12 days, to undergo a lie detector test.
Gutfeld made the comments on Wednesday as the search for Guthrie’s mother continues after she vanished from her Tucson home on January 31. However, there is no suggestion that the NBC star or any member of her family is involved in her disappearance.
The “Five” co-host suggested Guthrie put herself forward for the polygraph in order to help the ongoing investigation. Some viewers were quick to push back on the suggestion, claiming Gutfeld should take the case more seriously.
The social media account, Decoding Fox News, posted: “Greg Gutfeld kept joking about the details surrounding the alleged abduction of Nancy Guthrie. He came across as a child jealous that someone else was getting attention. There's absolutely nothing funny about this horrific case.”
The same account also tweeted, “It almost seemed like Greg Gutfeld went out of his way to be as inappropriate as possible while discussing the alleged kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, an 84-year-old grandmother. Fox News has made this story its number one focus now for two weeks.”
Meanwhile, author Joyce Carol Oates responded to Gutfeld's call for polygraph testing, writing on X that it would be "fun to ask Fox News people including Gutfeld to take polygraphs to determine if they're lying to Fox viewers. How many do you think would say, 'Sure! Happy to take a polygraph.'"
Gutfeld made the comments to former NYPD inspector-turned-media commentator Paul Mauro.
"I want to revisit my strategy to solving this case, and that would be having... Savannah Guthrie, offer to do a polygraph, which will then put necessary pressure on others inside and outside the circle to do the same," he said.
"Since no one has been ruled out, it's one step forward in ruling in and anybody who says no or bristles looks unusual. What do you say to that?"
Mauro replied: "Well, my understanding as of now is that they haven't done anything relative to a polygraph. I'm not sure we necessarily would've heard, but I think we would with the way things happen going out here. And as we all know, it's not admissible in court but it can be a pointer."
A potential new lead in the case emerged Wednesday, when investigators scouring the area around Nancy Guthrie's property found a single black glove off the road about a mile and a half away from the house.
The doorbell camera footage put out by the FBI showing the man they are hunting in connection with the disappearance also appears to be wearing similar style latex gloves, giving hope that DNA testing could help reveal who arrived at her door on the night she disappeared.
A new ransom note has also surfaced, according to reports, though its legitimacy has not been verified. It reads: "If they want the name of the individual involved, then I want 1 bitcoin to the following wallet. Time is more than relevant."
One bitcoin is currently worth around $67,500. Only slightly more than the $50,000 offered by the FBI for information leading to the recovery of Nancy Guthrie and/or the arrest and conviction of her abductor(s).
The note comes after another series of ransom letters, offering to return Nancy in exchange for $6 million in bitcoin, was sent to several publications, but the deadline passed with no update.
Nancy Guthrie was first reported missing on February 1, after not arriving for a Church service as usual.
An investigation then found her home showed signs of a break-in and that there were traces of blood on her porch. Forensic testing soon determined that the blood belonged to Nancy.
A screenshot from doorbell footage released by the FBI shows a masked, armed man on Nancy Guthrie’s porch tampering with the doorbell camera system.
The Independent has contacted Fox News for comment.
