During an appearance on Fox News’ Justice with Judge Jeanine over the weekend, Steve Emerson, the Executive Director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism Foundation, made the claim that the entire city of Birmingham, England, was Muslim and that non-Muslims simply do not go into the city. Immediately after making the unbelievably false statement, the hashtag #FoxNewsFacts began trending on Twitter, as people relentlessly mocked the network and Emerson over the outlandish comment and used the hashtag to state other things commentators and pundits on Fox would likely say.
During his discussion with host Jeanine Pirro, who is one of the more outspoken and extreme personalities on Fox (which is saying something), Emerson told the Muslim-hating Pirro that there are entire sections of Europe that are overtaken by radical Islamists and governments have told their citizens that certain places are “no-go zones.” He also pointed out that Muslims in these areas have created their own police forces to enforce Sharia Law, specifically to ensure people dress is traditional Muslim garb.
“In Britain, it’s not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don’t go in. And parts of London, there are actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and actually wound seriously anyone who doesn’t dress according to Muslim, religious Muslim attire. So there’s a situation that Western Europe is not dealing with.”
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Even Pirro, who makes her living tossing out fear-mongering comments, didn’t seem to totally buy what Emerson was selling, though she was still running with the idea that “caliphates” were being set up in Western Europe. Below is video of the segment:
Of course, Emerson was dead wrong about Birmingham being totally Muslim. Per the most recent census count, the city’s Muslim population is less than 22%. Also, he really cannot back up his assertion that entire police forces are intimidating non-Muslims and enforcing Sharia Law. Therefore, it didn’t take long for Emerson’s completely false claim to gain the attention of those worldwide and the mocking to start. After thousands of people had sent their own #FoxNewsFacts, Emerson released a statement to the Huffington Post apologizing for his comments.
“I have clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry. My comments about Birmingham were totally in error. And I am issuing an apology and correction on my website immediately for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham. I do not intend to justify or mitigate my mistake by stating that I had relied on other sources because I should have been much more careful. There was no excuse for making this mistake and I owe an apology to every resident of Birmingham. I am not going to make any excuses. I made an inexcusable error. And I am obligated to openly acknowledge that mistake.
“Steve
“PS. I intend to make a donation to Birmingham Children’s Hospital”
The hashtag was still trending as of Monday morning. Below are some of the more entertaining tweets mocking Fox News.
#foxnewsfacts: As part of the Muslim takeover of Britain, all official government documents must use Arabic numerals.
— Eric Kleefeld (@EricKleefeld) January 12, 2015
Megyn Kelly: “Pepper Spray is a food product after all.” She actually said this. I swear. #FoxNewsFacts pic.twitter.com/2ThoJJ3Kza
— Bill Wong (@ten24get) January 12, 2015
After much lobbying from jihadists, band Duran Duran is to change their name to Quran Quran #FoxNewsFacts
— Salim Kassam (@msalimkassam) January 12, 2015
Muslim cats are expected to wear a hijab too #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/EhBXECyoOa
— Yasmin Gooner (@Yasmin_Gooner) January 12, 2015
The city is now called Birming because Ham is not halal. #foxnewsfacts
— Kamila Shamsie (@kamilashamsie) January 11, 2015
Radical cleric Mullah Kintyre demands everyone should bow down to Macca to pray five times each day. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/rkUGhjG2GW
— Peter Thompson (@TheRedRag) January 11, 2015
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
