Geraldo Rivera's comments on Trayvon Martin didn't just disgust many across the country; they also left a bad taste in his own son's mouth, according to the Daily News.
The Fox News contributor, who has been under fire since saying the hoodie Trayvon Martin wore was as much to blame for his death as George Zimmerman, tweeted yesterday, "My own son just wrote to say he's ashamed of my position." Rivera's son is 32 years old.
"Gabriel broke my heart. He just told me for the first time in his life, he's ashamed," he told Politico.com, adding that his son believed he had "gone viral for all the wrong reasons."
Despite his family's disappointment in his comments, Rivera seemed to stand on his ground on Twitter, with a follow-up tweet saying, "Still I feel parents must do whatever they can to keep their kids safe."
Rivera said he wrote Gabriel back and tried to explain his position that "every hoodie should come with a warning like cigarettes, 'caution wearing this could get you killed.' "
The Fox News contributor's comments on the hoodie Trayvon Martin was wearing on that fateful night were shocking. "If he didn't have that hoodie on, that nutty neighborhood-watch guy wouldn't have responded in that violent and aggressive way," said Rivera on Fox & Friends. He said kids, including his own child, who is dark-skinned, shouldn't wear clothing like that. "If you dress like a hoodlum, eventually some schmuck is going to take you at your word."
Rivera also took a shot at President Obama's comments after the commander in chief said that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon. He tweeted, "The president would never let his son walk around DC in a hoodie."
We are surprised that a man with a son, like Rivera, would say something this shocking. It's always easy for pundits and commentators to talk about other people when they have the ability to do so. We just wish those with children, like Rivera, would empathize and think before they speak about a tragedy like this one.
Read more at the Daily News.