Fox News host 'hands' himself a controversy

Pete Hegseth. Pic/AFP

Fox News host Pete Hegseth has said that he has not washed his hands in a decade as he thinks "germs are not a real thing", sending viewers into a frenzy and triggering adverse social media comments.

Hegseth made the shocking admission on Sunday's 'Fox and Friends' episode. The network's spokeswoman later described Hegseth's comments as a "joke". He said the infectious micro-organisms did not exist because they could not be seen with the naked eye.

"I inoculate myself. Germs are not a real thing. I can't see them, therefore they're not real," added the 38-year-old Harvard and Princeton graduate. His comments were met with both support and concern on social media.

Hegseth later told USA Today that his remarks were intended to be a joke. "We live in a society where people walk around with bottles of Purell in their pockets, and they sanitise 19,000 times a day as if that's going to save their life," Hegseth said, adding, "I take care of myself and all that, but I don't obsess over everything all the time."

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