Explainer

Why Was Al Gore Wearing an Earpiece?

Last week, Rush Limbaugh made a stink on his show about the conspicuous earpiece that Al Gore wore on the July 16 edition of Meet the Press. He speculated that Gore was being fed answers by his handlers. What’s the story?

According to a Meet the Press spokesperson, all guests wear earpieces while appearing on the show so that they can hear the audio tracks of news clips that are played. The stage managers usually place the IFB (interruptible fold back) on the less visible ear, but in this case Gore insisted on wearing an IFB that had been fitted to his right ear.

Ross Perot previously accused Gore of having answers fed to him via earpiece during their NAFTA debate on Larry King Live.

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