Fox Anchor Falsely Claims Obama Has Not Linked Paris Attackers To Hateful Rhetoric

Martha MacCallum: To Obama Paris Attackers Are “Just Demented Individuals With Twisted Thoughts”

Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum falsely claimed that President Barack Obama has not linked the November 13 Paris attacks to hateful rhetoric by ISIS. MacCallum criticized Obama for “immediately connect[ing]” the suspected shooter in the recent Planned Parenthood attacks “to a larger issue of rhetoric” while failing to do so with the Paris attackers, saying that to him they are “just demented individuals with twisted thoughts.” In fact, during a press conference with French President Francois Hollande, Obama condemned the “murderous ideology” of ISIS, calling it a “scourge that threatens all of us.” From the December 1 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:

Video file

MARTHA MACCALLUM (ANCHOR): Here's what I don't understand. In the same speech this morning the president talked about demented individuals with twisted thoughts in Paris. So they're just demented individuals with twisted thoughts --

MATTHEW LITTMAN: No.

MACCALLUM: They're not connected to a larger Islamic fundamentalist radical --

LITTMAN: No.

MACCALLUM: They're their own thing. But for this guy he's immediately connected to a larger issue of rhetoric.

LITTMAN: We're at war with the Islamic State. And the president has said a lot of things over time about individuals associated with the Islamic State. The two things aren't comparable.

MACCALLUM: But they're demented individuals and this guy's not.

LITTMAN: The president has -- there's no doubt that this guy who shot people is also a demented individual.

MACCALLUM: Who's fueled by rhetoric, and these people, these demented individuals in Paris, are not directly linked to being fueled by rhetoric?

LITTMAN: No one is saying that the people in Paris aren't fueled by hate and rhetoric.

MACCALLUM: He didn't make that connection before.

LITTMAN: He's made it many times before, maybe not today, but many times before.