On the October 9 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade said of the cover photo of Gov. Sarah Palin, which appeared on the October 13 edition of Newsweek, “You know that I thought for a story, there was a reason why they sucked half her face in, there was a reason why they closed up on her eye, but it has nothing to do with the story at all. ... But don't you want to sell magazines? Why would they put an unattractive shot of an attractive person?” Later in the segment, Greg Gutfeld, host of Fox News' Red Eye, said: “But the rest of the world gets airbrushed. She doesn't get a break?” Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin added: “I don't think there's anything these mainstream photographers can do to make Sarah Palin look awful. She is a gorgeous woman, there's nothing they can do about it, and this is why the left is so deranged that they resorted to Photoshopping her in bikini pictures.”

Left unmentioned during the Fox & Friends discussion of the Newsweek cover photo was the fact that the July 2 edition of Fox & Friends featured photos of New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe that appeared to have been digitally altered, during a segment in which co-host Steve Doocy claimed that Steinberg's June 28 article on the “ominous trend” in Fox News' ratings was a “hit piece.” Specifically, in the photos Fox & Friends aired, the Times journalists' teeth had been yellowed, their facial features exaggerated, and Reddicliffe's hairline receded. Fox News gave no indication that the photos had been altered at the time.

Also during the October 9 segment, Gutfeld aired the following Reuters photo:

Then, as Think Progress has noted, Gutfeld asserted, “Now if this was [Sen.] Hillary Clinton, you wouldn't be able to see the guy's face. That's a fact.” After the Fox & Friends hosts expressed their disapproval of his statement, Gutfeld added, “I couldn't resist it. I couldn't resist it.”

From the October 9 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

CARLSON: All right, check out this photo here, and check out the guy. Does the picture offend you? Those legs are Governor Sarah Palin's, taken at a campaign event.

DOOCY: That's right, by a Reuters photographer, and now it's splayed all over a number of U.S. newspapers. Let's talk about whether or not this is appropriate with Michelle Malkin, and we've got the Red Eye guy, Greg Gutfeld, as well. Sarah, NewsBusters says -- the headline on this today is “Indecent photograph?” Question mark. Is it indecent? Is it appropriate?

MALKIN: I think it's more cliché than anything else, Steve. I've seen about two dozen of these shots now. OK, we get it, she's got great legs and great shoes. Move on. Take a picture of her elbow or something else.

GUTFELD: Can we show that picture real quick again, of the legs? Now, if this was Hillary Clinton, you wouldn't be able to see the guy's face. That's a fact.

DOOCY: Oh, stop it. Stop it.

[crosstalk]

CARLSON: Well, that's only because she has pants on.

GUTFELD: I couldn't resist it. I couldn't resist it. But can I bring up the cover of Newsweek real quickly?

DOOCY: Sure.

GUTFELD: Here's the unspeakable truth. This -- the reason why they did this close-up and retouched photo of her face where you see warts and all, is because people in publishing are jealous. I worked in publishing for 20 years. They're full of unattractive people, and they just can't bear the fact that a politician is better-looking than they are. It drives them nuts.

KILMEADE: But Greg, here's the thing. You know that I thought for a story, there was a reason why they sucked half her face in, there was a reason why they closed up on her eye, but it has nothing to do with the story at all.

GUTFELD: No, not at all.

KILMEADE: But don't you want to sell magazines? Why would they put an unattractive shot of an attractive person?

CARLSON: It's not unattractive, though, because -- here's my point about this, Greg --

GUTFELD: She's still pretty hot.

CARLSON: She's still a beautiful woman, and quite frankly, her whole image, Michelle, her whole image is about being just like one of us, so I'm not offended by that shot, really, because I think it shows that she's still beautiful, number one, and, number two, yeah, she is just like the next-door woman.

GUTFELD: But the rest of the world gets airbrushed. She doesn't get a break?

CARLSON: So what?

KILMEADE: They would never do that to Obama.

CARLSON: Michelle?

MALKIN: Yeah, that's right. Every picture of Obama has a halo behind it. And I think Gretchen's right. I don't think there's anything these mainstream photographers can do to make Sarah Palin look awful. She is a gorgeous woman, there's nothing they can do about it, and this is why the left is so deranged that they resorted to Photoshopping her in bikini pictures. And I think, well thank God that didn't wind up on the cover of Newsweek, although they still have a couple weeks left.