A panel of Fox News contributors mocked the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag on Sunday, bashing the Twitter phrase for being a useless "exercise in self-esteem."
The hashtag #BringBackOurGirls has gone viral worldwide sparking global awareness of the 276 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria by Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist group. Celebrities, politicians and world leaders have united behind the cause in what is being called "hashtag activism" to bring the girls back to safety.
But Fox News contributors got a laugh on "Fox News Sunday" in a conversation that began with Chris Wallace wondering if the hashtag could actually "make progress" or was rather simply a tool to make people "feel better about themselves."
"Exactly that," George Will said. "It’s an exercise in self-esteem. I do not know how adults stand there, facing a camera, and say, 'Bring back our girls.' Are these barbarians in the wilds of Nigeria supposed to check their Twitter accounts and say, 'Uh oh, Michelle Obama is very cross with us, we better change our behavior'?"
"It's trending! It’s trending on Twitter!" Brit Hume then exclaimed, which garnered a chuckle from the rest of the panel.
Watch the video to see the clip from Fox News.