Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer swiftly interrupted and dismissed his guest, political consultant Mathew Littman, for stating that in recent years mass shootings and gun violence generally have posed a bigger threat to Americans than terror attacked planned abroad. During a segment critical of the Obama administration's handling of ISIS and plans to accept Syrian refugees, Littman argued that the gun issue in America was a larger area of concern, noting, “You have issues like ... Twenty kids being killed in Newtown and the gun issues in this country,” causing Hemmer to question the relevancy of Littman's answer. However, multiple sources -- such as Politifact, Vox, and NBC News -- have demonstrated the number of gun deaths in the U.S. greatly outnumber the casualties from terror attacks, even when including the 9/11 attacks. NBC News reported that an estimated 153,144 Americans were killed in gun murders between 2001 and 2013 compared to 3,046 Americans killed in terrorist attacks during the same time period. From the November 24 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:
BILL HEMMER: The overall question that [Bill] O'Reilly raises, though, that the American people don't trust the president on security, what do you think of that?
MATHEW LITTMAN: Well, I think that we're doing -- the ISIS situation is obviously amazingly complicated. In terms of the territory ISIS has, we've been doing a pretty good job of rolling back that territory, obviously need to do more. On domestic -- on security here, we have had a bit of a problem with domestic terrorists, not refugees, but domestic terrorists since 2001. That seems to be where the issue lies in this country. And obviously we need to be doing more about that. You have issues like 30 people being shot in Newtown. Twenty kids being killed in Newtown and the gun issues in this country--
[CROSS TALK]
HEMMER: What's that got to do with terrorism overseas and refugees at home?
LITTMAN: Well, what it has to do with is we're worried about what's happening here, Bill. That's what we're talking about. And the gun violence in this country is a very important issue.
Previously:
Conservative Media's Nonsensical Solution To Terror Attacks: More Concealed Guns