WATCH: Even Fox News Can’t Bring Themselves to Claim Joe Biden Referred to Satchel Paige as ‘Negro’ While Reporting on Speech

Fox News reported on widespread conservative outrage over a comment that President Joe Biden made about the late baseball legend Satchel Paige, but refused to make the false claim that sparked the outrage.

Conservatives spent the better part of Thursday trying to spread the false claim that Biden referred to Paige as “The great negro at the time,” when in fact, Biden was explicitly referring to Negro League baseball.

What actually happened is that the president was wishing Amb. Donald Blinken a happy birthday during his Veterans Day speech, and injected one of his favorite stories: a roundabout way of saying that you’re only as old as you feel. Here’s the passage in question:

I’ve adopted the attitude of the great Negro — at the time, pitcher in the Negro Leagues — went on to become a great pitcher in the pros — in the Major League Baseball after Jackie Robinson. His name was Satchel Paige.

While blue-check conservatives continued to falsely insist that Biden was referring to Paige — despite their own video clips belying that notion — Fox News walked a thin line between noting the outrage and not amplifying the falsehood.

On Thursday night’s edition of Hannity, host Sean Hannity expressed outrage, called the comments “one of [Biden’s] most disturbing, troubling moments to date,” and even displayed Mediaite’s headline as an example of the “media mob” giving Biden a “pass,” but when it came to the remarks themselves, Hannity let the video do all the talking.

He then played video of some of Biden’s past remarks, some of which have generated genuine controversy, and held a panel segment in which guests accused Biden of racism, but Hannity never made the specific charge, and guest Leo Terrell did so only obliquely.

And on Friday morning, the comments were part of headline roundups on Fox & Friends First. Again, the news copy included references to backlash online and a clip of the comments that included the full reference, with no claim that Biden was referring to Paige rather than the league that was formed in the face of segregation.

The explanation that followed the clip was vague:

Biden’s choice of words while referencing a Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige landing him in hot water online. That remark came while Biden was attempting to wish a Secretary of State Antony Blinken, his dad, a happy birthday. There you go!

Although Fox did not elaborate on the true context of Biden’s remarks, there do appear to have been factual guardrails in place that prevented them from running with a false claim.

Watch above via Fox News.