CNN's most recent on-air flub goes viral on social media after viewers caught the surprising name mix-up
CNN confused Obama with Osama bin Laden in embarrassing on-air mix-up
CNN mixes up Obama and Osama bin Laden's names in embarrassing on-air gaffe.
CNN mixed up the names of former President Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden in an embarrassing on-air gaffe on Friday night.
During a segment on the Guantanamo Bay detention camp on "CNN News Central," a graphic appeared behind anchor Boris Sanchez that read, "OBAMA BIN LADEN ASSOCIATE: ABU ZUBAYDAH."
Abu Zubaydah – the suspected Palestinian terrorist whose real name is Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn – is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding his apprehension and detention.
CNN mixed up former President Barack Obama and notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden's names in an embarrassing on-air flub on Friday.
When President Obama took office in January 2009, he pledged to close the detention facility within a year but failed to do so. This failure enabled future presidents, like President Donald Trump, to use the detention facility to house some of the world's most dangerous criminals.
Earlier this week, Trump instructed the Pentagon to prepare the facility to hold around 30,000 'criminal illegal aliens' at the US military base.
While Sanchez did not read "Obama bin Laden" out loud, viewers quickly caught the glaring mashup of names, and took to social media to call it out.
"So it's confirmed now. The Babylon Bee bought CNN and just didn't tell us," X user Charles Jorhan mocked.
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CNN laid off over 200 employees in January as their ratings continued to spiral. ( Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
This gaffe comes as another embarrassing moment for the struggling liberal news network, with CNN laying off roughly 6% of their workforce at the end of January as ratings continued to decline.
CNN painted the layoffs as a critical step toward securing the network’s future, telling staffers that "irreversible shifts in the way audiences in America and around the world consume news" have impacted its business model. About 200 jobs were eliminated as a result.
The news network also lost a major lawsuit last month, being found liable for defaming U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young. A jury awarded the Navy veteran $4 million in lost earnings, $1 million in personal damages such as pain and suffering and said that punitive damages are warranted against CNN.
CNN declined to comment to Fox News Digital on the name mix-up.
Fox News Digital's Brian Flood and Greg Norman contributed to this report.
