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”

Written by Media Matters Staff

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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:

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.