Bill Clinton once said that “the evidence does not faze” Republicans, “they are not bothered at all by the facts.” It was a perfectly valid observation of course, and proved to be true once again on Wednesday when Fox News host Eric Bolling falsely claimed that every terrorist on American soil has been a Muslim.
On his show, Bolling discussed a lawsuit being brought by Muslim Advocates, a legal group that is fighting for the civil rights of Muslim-Americans because the NYPD has been spying on them. Joining the conversation was co-host Dana Perino and analyst Juan Williams.
BOLLING: “The people that had their constitutional rights violated the most were the 9/11 victims, the 3,000 who were killed by 19 hijackers who happened all to be Muslims.”
PERINO: “It’s a strange thing that a lot of groups will do if they feel they’re being targeted is turn America’s system of civil rights and the Constitution back on the government. Now that’s one of the things we have to struggle against.”
Let’s discuss this part of the conservation for a moment. Whenever I’ve heard Republicans speak of the Constitution, they say it’s a document that protects the people from government. What Dana Perino just said is that “we have to struggle against” this. So am I to assume that when Republicans say that the Constitution protects us from government they actually mean just white Christians and not everyone else?
Juan Williams then jumped into the conversation and defended the right of Muslims to bring the suit.
WILLIAMS: “The reality is what the lawsuit says is that they are being targeted simply on the basis of their religion. So, it’s as if, you know, in Syria or one of these countries where all Christians are being persecuted, you said, ‘I’m going to go into every Christian home or church just on that basis that I suspect that you’re a terrorist.’ Well, that’s not fair to people in the Muslim community, most of whom are not terrorists.”
BOLLING: “How is it every terrorist on American soil has been a Muslim?”
WILLIAMS: “Wait a second, you mean to say Oklahoma City [bombing] was conducted by a Muslim?”
BOLLING: “In the last 15 years.”
WILLIAMS: “Oh, come on.”
Here’s the video:
So Bolling claims that the only terrorists in America have been Muslim over the last 15 years? He must not have seen this LONG list of acts of right-wing terrorism. Bill Clinton was right, facts really don’t faze Republicans at all.
FOX News commentators, as is the case with most conservative pundits and politicians, rarely let reality get in the way of their fact-devoid rhetoric.