Fox News made a fortune from its constant “coverage” of the “scandal” it promoted as Benghazi. Now, the cable news network is trying to do it again.
The horrific terror attack in Paris yesterday on Charlie Hebdo’s editor and staffers by radical Islamic extremists left twelve people dead, eleven more injured, and just like in Benghazi, Libya, an opening for anti-Obama rhetoric and the opportunity to make hay – and money – from the murders and fear.
So that’s what Fox News did.
Ignoring the President’s specific statements – calling terror, well, terror – Fox News host Gretchen Carlson launched into an on-air op-ed attacking the President – as if somehow he were to blame for a decades-old satirical magazine that (rightly) mocks mullahs and depicts extremism in all religion as laughable.
“It is what it is,” the 48-year old Stanford University educated Lutheran announced. “It, meaning terrorism. Terrorism is what it is,” Carlson repeated. “So why does the administration continue to have such a problem telling the American people and the rest of the world just that? Is that a disservice to all of us? In some way giving us a false sense of security? That since our own leaders don’t see any of these attacks as terrorism right away, neither should we?”
It’s pretty clear that the people who matter most in this equation are the people of France, for whom Carlson did not express one iota of concern or sympathy, much less empathy.
And they really don’t need the President of the United States of America telling them they just experienced a terrorism attack to know it was a terrorism attack. They know what happened. They were there.
Although, he did anyway.
President Obama, yesterday afternoon, spoke with the President of France.Â
“President Obama called French President Hollande from Air Force One this afternoon to personally offer his condolences and to express solidarity after this morning’s horrific terrorist attack in Paris,” a press release from the White House reads. “The President reiterated his earlier remarks that our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones, and that Americans stand beside the people of France in the aftermath of this outrage. He offered the resources of the United States as France works to identify, apprehend, and bring to justice the perpetrators and anyone who helped plan or enable this terrorist attack.”
Also yesterday afternoon, the President released this statement:
“I strongly condemn the horrific shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris that has reportedly killed 12 people. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrorist attack and the people of France at this difficult time. France is America’s oldest ally, and has stood shoulder to shoulder with the United States in the fight against terrorists who threaten our shared security and the world. Time and again, the French people have stood up for the universal values that generations of our people have defended. France, and the great city of Paris where this outrageous attack took place, offer the world a timeless example that will endure well beyond the hateful vision of these killers. We are in touch with French officials and I have directed my Administration to provide any assistance needed to help bring these terrorists to justice.”
Obama was not the only member of his administration to label the attack “terrorism.”
Even Fox News, Carlson’s employer, reported this:
“Speaking with Fox News, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest called the shooting an ‘act of terror that we condemn in the strongest possible terms.'”
Yesterday, highlighting Carlson’s attempt to create another Benghazi-like meme, Mother Jones reported that Carlson’s “premise was plain false.”
Earlier in the day, Secretary of State John Kerry described the attacks as an “act of terror” in direct, forceful terms. “The murderers dared proclaim, ‘Charlie Hebdo is dead.’ But make no mistake: They are wrong,” Kerry said. “The freedom of expression that it represented is not able to be killed by this kind of act of terror.”
Watch Carlson on video, above, all the way to the end.
Fear-monger, much, Ms. Carlson?
All bolding in quotes is ours.Â
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Image: Screenshot via Fox News video