Fox & Friends guest calls Lucy Flores “a fraud”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

Former Bernie Sanders campaign staffer Tezlyn Figaro claimed on Fox & Friends that former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, who wrote an essay saying former Vice President Joe Biden touched her inappropriately, is “a fraud.” In the piece, Flores wrote that the then-vice president grabbed her shoulders, smelled her hair, and “plant[ed] a big slow kiss on the back” of her head, saying it left her “mortified.” Several more women have since come forward with stories of similarly uncomfortable physical encounters with Biden.

Figaro, who worked with Flores at Our Revolution, a political action group that formed following Sanders’ defeat in the 2016 Democratic primary, also accused Flores of racism, saying she filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against Flores. Figaro was let go from Our Revolution after anti-immigrant tweets she had posted before joining the group were revealed.

From the April 3 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:

AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): Joe Biden, we’re wondering if he is going to get in, especially after all these accusations -- two more women have come forward -- of unwanted touching. And Lucy Flores is one of those. And I understand, Tezlyn, you know her. Tell us about her.

TEZLYN FIGARO: Absolutely. This is the first time that I’ve said this on national TV and, you know, I think it's very important. You know, Vice President Joe Biden, if you are listening, you should know that Lucy Flores is a fraud. I myself worked with her at Our Revolution when she was on the board and I currently have a EEOC claim filed against -- naming her, filed against Our Revolution, naming Lucy Flores as someone who was racist, who also implemented retaliation. She told me that if I didn't do what she told me to do that I would suffer the consequences. So I think it's really important that Joe Biden knows that. You know, I don't question what happened between her and him that day. I wasn't there. But I was there when I worked with Lucy Flores and had an opportunity to see her in action. And I'm the only one -- this is very important -- the only one that has legal documentation on her retaliation. She has a long list, a long history, of her picking the perfect timing, quote and unquote, on speaking on these issues. The difference between Lucy and I is I spoke up immediately and took legal action and she waited for five years. And I'm happy to have that conversation in long form. And this is the first time that I’ve said it -- over the last year, I’ve been very quiet about it, but now that she’s been compelled to speak up, I too am compelled to speak up to say that Lucy Flores is a fraud.