PBS, which has been criticized on social media for airing old fireworks footage during this year’s live A Capitol Fourth fireworks display, defended its decision on Twitter and Facebook.
The A Capitol Fourth Twitter account tweeted out Monday night, “We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do. #July4thPBS.”
The show’s Facebook account noted the overcast weather, which interfered with the fireworks display.
The show’s Twitter account early Tuesday morning took a more apologetic stance as it tweeted out an image with the following text: “We are very proud of the 2016 A Capitol Fourth celebration. Because this year’s fireworks were difficult to see due to the weather, we made the decision to intercut fireworks footage from previous A Capitol Fourth concerts for the best possible television viewing experience. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.”
The show was hosted by Tom Bergeron and featured performances from Smokey Robinson, Kenny Loggins and Gavin DeGraw, among others.
