In their continued campaign against a proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero, Fox & Friends today hosted Mosab Hassan Youseff, whose father is apparently a member of Hamas, identifying him a “Muslim” who is opposed to the “NYC Mosque.” But Youseff is anything but; at the beginning of the interview, Youseff explains that he was “born as a Muslim and then I converted to Christianity.” One would think this would throw quite a wrench into Fox's framing for the segment -- that even a Muslim “son of a terrorist”(!) thinks that the community center is “an insult to the victims of 9/11” -- but you'd be wrong. Undaunted, Fox's on-screen text continued to refer to him as a “Muslim Against NYC Mosque” throughout the segment:
Other than the inconvenient fact that Youseff is not a Muslim, Youseff gave Fox everything else they likely wanted out of his appearance. He attacked “Islamists” by claiming that “the real nature of Islam” shared “common grounds” with the Nazis because they want to “make one global Islamic state.” He added that “Islamists” have the “same objectives as the Nazis,” but are “even more dangerous.” He likened the planned NYC Islamic community center to “pouring acid in the open wound of the victims and their families of September 11.”
Fox has been on a crusade against the community center, stoking the flames of Islamic xenophobia and making false claims, like their assertion that it was slated to open on September 11. Co-host Brian Kilmeade has repeatedly questioned if the “Islamic community” is “gloating” or “taunting” 9-11 victims in building the community center near Ground Zero. Nary a day seems to go by without at least one segment attacking the the community center.
For his part, Kilmeade was so blown away by Youseff's assertion that “Islamists” are worse than Nazis, that he declared, “We gotta have you back.” I have no doubt that they will.