L'Italien Uses Fox Flap As Campaign Fundraising Gambit

ANDOVER, MA -- State Sen. Barbara L'Italien sent a plea to donors Tuesday following her appearance on Fox & Friends Monday morning that drew national headlines. Fox News has claimed L'Italien, who s running for Congress, deliberately misled producers who thought they had booked U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) for a segment on immigrations. In the email sent to supporters Tuesday, L'Italien said her campaign was looking to raise $10,000 in 24 hours.

"More hits are coming. We need to keep this momentum up before the real hits start coming," the email said. "We've set a goal of raising $10,000 in the next 24 hours from supporters like you."

Producers had booked Kirkpatrick on its Fox and Friends morning show as a Democratic lawmaker who was reportedly booed for supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a recent public appearance. Fox said it had booked Kirkpatrick with her press contact, who confirmed the appearance on the segment by email. But when the segment started, it was L'Italien who appeared on camera in front of Kirkpatrick's campaign logo.

"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," Desiree Dunne, Executive Producer of Fox & Friends First, said in a statement.

The aide Fox spoke to is named Joe Katz. While he now works for L'Italien, he worked for Kirkpatrick several years ago. L'Italien is in the crowded race to replace Rep. Nikki Tsongas (D-Lowell) in Congress. Tsongas has announced she would not seek reelection. Her campaign issued a release shortly after the segment aired.

"I'm actually here to speak directly to Donald Trump," L'Italien said on air as the two hosts looked on, visibly confused. "I feel that what's happening at the border is wrong. I'm a mother of four, and I believe that separating kids from their parents is illegal and inhumane. I'm actually Barbara L'Italien, I'm a state senator representing a large immigrant community and running for Congress in Massachusetts.

Host Jillian Mele attempted to rebut L'Italien's points, claiming families had been reunited at the border, then cut L'Italien off the air. "That didn't go as planned," Mele said.

Tuesdays' email from the campaign asks for donations ranging from $1 to $100 and includes a link for making contributions.

"So many new allies have stood up and joined our campaign," Tuesdays email solicitation by the L'Italien campaign said. "It just goes to show you, we can speak out against Donald Trump and stand up for our values. We just need leaders who aren't afraid to crash the party.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).