Sorry Fox News: The only one to blame for the Muslim ban being struck down is Donald Trump

Written by Nina Mast

Published

On Fox News’ Outnumbered, host Harris Faulkner and Fox legal analyst Andrew Napolitano criticized recent injunctions issued by federal judges in response to Trump’s third attempt to ban travelers from several Muslim majority countries from entering the United States. They called it “very, very unusual for the judiciary to be so disrespectful” and said it was “political” for the judges to use the term “Muslim ban” in their opinions. But the term “Muslim ban” was coined by President Trump himself, not the judiciary. In fact, as of February 2017, Trump himself had referred to a “ban” and mentioned Muslims -- or even explicitly said “Muslim ban” -- numerous times, including in appearances on Fox News, and administration officials had similarly agreed that the first iteration of the travel ban targeted Muslims. Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller later acknowledged that Trump’s second attempt at a Muslim ban had the same intent as the first, in an appearance on Fox News no less. Fox News has previously responded to setbacks to Trump’s attempted Muslim bans with false claims and attacks on federal judges. From the October 18 edition of Fox News’ Outnumbered:

ANDREW NAPOLITANO: I read both opinions -- we examined them upstairs before the show started -- and these judges have begun to call it the “Muslim ban,” which is very, very unusual for the judiciary to be so disrespectful and dismissive --

HARRIS FAULKNER (CO-HOST): Or political.

NAPOLITANO: And political.

FAULKNER: Yeah, the disrespect is one thing. That falls in the category of what your grandmother can fix. But political.

[...]

MARIE HARF (GUEST CO-HOST): I think the other thing this shows us, yet again, is that President Trump's statements, including his tweets, do have consequences. And I'm not saying they should or shouldn't legally -- you're the expert on that; I'm not. But clearly these judges, they entered it into evidence and they put in their ruling that how could they not listen to some of the things he's said as he was describing this travel ban?

NAPOLITANO: But shouldn't a president be treated differently when he's in office than what he said when he was a candidate?

HARF: Yes, yes, you're right, but --

FAULKNER: I would step in and add this to what you're saying, though, Marie. Because, if you are saying that his tweets have an efficacy in all of this and they're effective with shaping the message, then clearly if they're using labels like “Muslim ban,” they're watching other media. They're getting some information coming from everywhere. And in all fairness, if they're going to get it from everywhere, then how can you single out one as being most important?