Columnist Who 'Body-Shamed' Sarah Huckabee Sanders Apologizes On 'Megyn Kelly Today'

The Los Angeles Times writer and cartoonist who received widespread backlash for “body-shaming” in his column on Sarah Huckabee Sanders appeared on “Megyn Kelly Today” on Wednesday to address the incident. David Horsey apologized for describing Sanders as a “slightly chunky soccer mom” in his controversial column.

“The real question I’ve asked — as a guy who’s tried to be a champion and an ally of women for my whole career and who thinks the liberation and equality of women is the best thing to change the world and make it a better place — [is] ‘How could I do this?’” Horsey told Kelly. He described himself as “a guy who’s trying to do the right thing most of the time” but called the way he described Sanders “a cliché way of thinking.”

Kelly addressed further criticism of the way Horsey has described women before, including female Fox News anchors who he referred to as “blonde Barbie dolls in short, tight skirts.” After Kelly named the accomplishments of a handful of Fox News women who were formerly her colleagues, Horsey held up a cartoon picture of himself with a sword through his ears and said: “This is how I basically feel about it.”

“When you goof up like this, you gotta face up to it,” Horsey said. “I think, basically, real men apologize. You say, ‘Okay, I did something ridiculously wrong and offensive,’ and you say, ‘Okay, how can I make this better.’ It’s more than apologizing, it’s also realizing what you’re apologizing for.”

Prompted by Kelly, Horsey doubled down on his apologies both to Sanders as well as to the women of Fox News.

Two paragraphs in which Sanders was described as unlike “the kind of woman Donald Trump would choose as his chief spokesperson” were deleted from the column following the backlash, and both an editor’s note and a written apology from Horsey now appear in the post. The note to readers said the post “did not meet Times standards.”

“Trump’s daughter Ivanka and wife Melania are the apotheosis of this type,” Horsey wrote in the since-deleted second paragraph of the column. “By comparison, Sanders looks more like a slightly chunky soccer mom who organizes snack for the kids’ games. Rather than the fake eyelashes and formal dresses she puts on for news briefings, Sanders seems as if she’d be more comfortable in sweats and running shoes.”

Horsey said in his written apology that the comments were “insensitive” and “failed to meet the expectations I have for myself.”