'That Didn't Go As Planned': Mass. Democrat Gets On Fox Show To Denounce Trump's Border Policies

Andover Democratic state Sen. Barbara L'Italien is not Ann Kirkpatrick, a former Arizona congresswoman seeking to return to the U.S. House who was booed in a recent primary debate for voicing support for U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.

That's a lesson Fox News hosts learned on live TV early Monday morning, when L'Italien, who is running for Congress in Massachusetts' 3rd District, appeared on "Fox & Friends First" after staff at the show inadvertently booked her, believing they were contacting Kirkpatrick's office.

Here's the segment:

L'Italien, according to her campaign, felt she needed to take advantage of the opportunity to send a message to President Trump, who regularly watches the channel.

"I'm actually here to speak directly to Donald Trump. I feel that what's happening at the border is wrong," L'Italien said, as the screen identified her as "Ann Kirkpatrick (D) | AZ Congressional Candidate" and then as the "only Dem candidate [in the Arizona race] behind ICE."

She continued: "I'm actually Barbara L'Italien. I'm a state senator representing a large immigrant community and running for Congress in Massachusetts. I keep thinking about what we're putting parents through, imagining how terrifying that must be for those families, imagining how it would feel not knowing if I'd ever see my kids again. We have to stop abducting children and ripping them from their parents arms. ..."

The hosts began to ask her questions. L'Italien then identified herself again by name after co-host Rob Schmitt referred to her as "Ms. Kirkpatrick," prompting him to ask, "Who is this?"

The appearance was then ended.

"That didn't go as planned," Schmitt said.

"Time for a break? OK," co-host Jillian Mele replied.

In a statement, Desiree Dunne, the executive producer of the show, said: "Despite speaking to producers prior to the interview, L'Italien did not identify herself as anything other than Kirkpatrick until she was live on air, at which point we ended the interview."

On Twitter, Schmitt said L'Italien "lied to pull off this publicity stunt."

He added: "Our legal team is on it."

The Boston Globe reports:

...[T]he mix-up came after a Fox News representative mistakenly called one of L’Italien’s aides on Sunday, seeking to set up an interview with Kirkpatrick.

L’Italien’s aide never corrected Fox News representatives to let them know they had called the wrong person and booked the time slot anyway, [a L’Italien campaign] statement said.

The statement added:

Fox News is where you go when you want to talk to Donald Trump, and Barbara felt she had an obligation to her constituents to take advantage of that opportunity. But this would not have happened to an actual news station. Fox’s lack of attention to the facts normally is a disaster for the country, it just so happened that today it was embarrassing for them.

L'Italien sent a fundraising email about the mix-up to her supporters at 7:30 a.m. Monday, and put on Twitter what her full statement would have been, had the interview not been cut off.

L'Italien is one of many Democrats running in the 3rd, after Rep. Niki Tsongas opted last year not to seek re-election.

With reporting by State House News Service's Katie Lannan and WBUR's Ben Swasey