Fox News Called Out Again for Fearmongering on Libya

Fox News' coverage of Libya is drawing new criticism in the wake of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and its four resulting deaths. 

During Sean Hannity's Fox News show on September 13, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) criticized the host and his network for their coverage, telling Hannity, “you were wrong about Libya.”

It's no surprise that McCain attributed Libya scare tactics to Fox News.  In March 2011, Hannity -- seeming to channel Glenn Beck -- predicted that Libya could “get an Islamic Caliphate” after former dictator Moammar Gadhafi was removed from power. That same month, a grab bag of Fox News Contributors attempted to portray military action in Libya as “Obama's Iraq.”

During his interview with Senator McCain, Hannity suggested that only he and a “few other” Fox hosts correctly predicted the violent actions that transpired this week in Libya, leaving a U.S. Ambassador and three other Americans dead. McCain replied:

MCCAIN: It was you and people on Fox that said in Libya, “We didn't know who they were and let's not help these people.” They had an election and they elected moderates. They rejected Islamists. And yes, there are al-Qaeda factors and there are extremists in Libya today, but the Libyan people are friends of ours, and they support us, and they support democracy. So you were wrong about -- so you were wrong about Libya.

McCain also called out Fox News for its fearmongering over Libyan elections on July 11 during an interview with Greta Van Susteren.