MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle falsely claimed on her show Friday morning that Fox News had its Christmas party at President-elect Donald Trump's hotel in Washington, D.C.
Ruhle was leading a panel discussion with Democratic strategist Lis Smith and Republican strategist Brad Todd on Trump's business interests and his practice of using campaign funds to pay his companies for expenses accrued on the campaign trail.
Smith said this news is no surprise and that Trump wanted to enrich himself off other people's money. She added that there needs to be vigilance in making sure there are no conflicts of interest for Trump when he enters the White House. Todd interjected and told Smith that Trump legally had to reimburse his company.
"Legally he had to reimburse his company. If he takes that plane, if he hadn't reimbursed the company, we'd be on this show talking about him having had a violation of federal election law," Todd said.
Ruhle then brought up Trump's new D.C. hotel.
"Think about the hotel in Washington right now. The RNC [Republican National Committee] is having their Christmas party there. Fox News had their Christmas party there. That doesn't feel a little hanky?" Ruhle asked.
Ruhle's claim about Fox News previously holding its Christmas party at Trump's hotel turned out to be false, Mediaite reported.
We reached out to Fox News to clarify this statement and were informed that Fox hasn't had its party yet. That party is not scheduled to be held at Trump's Washington hotel, or any other Trump property. Instead, it will be held at the Liaison Capitol Hill in D.C.
Ruhle issued an apology later in the day during the 2 p.m. broadcast of MSNBC Live explaining that her comment was wrong and she made a mistake, Mediaite reported.
"This is some serious business that I need to share. I need to apologize to the audience," Ruhle said. "Earlier today in a segment I stated that the Fox network held their holiday party at Trump's D.C. hotel. I was wrong. We've since learned that neither Fox network nor an affiliate held any party at Trump's Washington hotel."
"I stand corrected. I apologize for the error. I am truly, truly sorry. The mistake entirely my fault," Ruhle continued. "And of course, I wish all my friends over at Fox a very happy holiday no matter where you have your party."
UPDATE 3:35 P.M.: This post was updated to include Stephanie Ruhle's apology.