It started on Wednesday, when “Daily Show” comedian Aasif Mandvi asked Florida governor Rick Scott to provide a urine sample. It continued yesterday, when Mandvi asked a slew of Florida legislators, including attorney general Pam Bondi (pictured), to provide one, too. And it ended badly for Tampa’s Bay News 9, which missed the joke entirely.
After Bondi jokingly handed a container of amber-colored liquid — later identified as apple juice — to Mandvi at a press conference yesterday, the Tampa-based regional cable network took to Twitter. “CONFIRMED: Fla. Att. Gen. Pam Bondi has actually provided a unrine sample to @TheDailyShow,” the station wrote (it has since been deleted).
“I’m not a happy camper,” Bay News 9 general manager Rod Gramer told the St. Petersburg Times. The station, which had also posted an article on their website, issued a correction.
“Daily Show” producers say the piece is scheduled to air after the late-night show’s end-of-year-hiatus.
Remarkably, another Florida station — WFTV in Orlando — was in a similar predicament earlier this week, after a reporter questioned the CEO of the Orlando Magic about drunk-dialing after reading a fake transcript of the phone call.