Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

At least 22 killed in Manchester attacks, ISIS claims responsibility

When Obama was similarly on a foreign trip during Brussels terror attacks, right-wing media figures attacked him for absence, accused him of not caring about victims

After the 2015 Paris attacks, right-wing media figures attacked Obama and immigration

After the 2016 Nice, France, attacks, right-wing media figures claimed Obama wasn’t fighting terrorism

Right-wing media condemned Obama for not blaming Islam after the 2016 massacre in Orlando, FL

After the 2015 San Bernardino attack, right-wing media again attacked Obama

“Thank God we have President Trump”: Here’s how right-wing media are responding to the Manchester terror attack

At least 22 killed in Manchester attacks, ISIS claims responsibility

NY Times: ISIS claims responsibility for Manchester bombing that kills at least 22 people. The New York Times reported that ISIS “claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the bombing at Manchester Arena,” which killed at least 22 people. From the May 23 article:

The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the bombing at Manchester Arena, the deadliest terrorist assault in Britain since 2005, as the death toll rose to 22.



The bomb tore through an entrance hall of the 21,000-seat Manchester Arena at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday as a concert by the American pop star Ariana Grande was ending and as crowds of teenagers had begun to leave, many for an adjacent train station.

[...]

The British government did not make any immediate comment on the claim by the Islamic State, which said on the social messaging app Telegram that, “One of the soldiers of the Caliphate was able to place an explosive device within a gathering of the Crusaders in the city of Manchester.” The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militants’ communications, also provided a translation of the claim. The Islamic State statement did not identify the bomber. [The New York Times, 5/23/17]

Attack comes as Trump is on foreign trip. The Manchester attack comes as President Donald Trump is on a nine-day, multicountry foreign visit, according to CNN. From the May 19 article:

The President embarked on a journey Friday to Saudi Arabia, Israel and global summits in Italy and Belgium, after one of the most tumultuous and damaging weeks any President has had to endure. [CNN.com, 5/19/17]

When Obama was similarly on a foreign trip during Brussels terror attacks, right-wing media figures attacked him for absence, accused him of not caring about victims

Fox's Karl Rove: Obama “spends his time worrying about Cuba and American tourism” instead of terrorism. During the March 22, 2016, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Fox political contributor Karl Rove criticized the president for prioritizing “Cuba and American tourism” when he “ought to be worrying about Islamic terrorism”:

KARL ROVE: We have an administration that will not acknowledge that we are in a global war on Islamic -- against Islamic terror. That they have declared that war on us, that they declared it long before 9/11, that they came at us hard on 9/11 and we're in a war for, basically, the future of western civilization, and the president spends his time worrying about Cuba and American tourism and not as much time as he ought to be worrying about Islamic terrorism, and the words can't pass his lips.

BRIAN KILMEADE: Real quick Joe, do you think the president should come home? Or watch that baseball game today? [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/22/16]

Fox Business’ Stuart Varney: Obama is “shaking hands with a communist dictator” as “Europe is paralyzed by terror.” During the March 22, 2016, edition of Fox Business Network's Varney & Co., host Stuart Varney claimed the “optics” of Obama's trip to Cuba “don't look good,” stating that Obama is “shaking hands with a communist dictator” while “the West comes under attack”:

STUART VARNEY (HOST): Bottom line is that Belgium, the country, has been shut down, essentially. That's what's happened. President Obama is in Cuba at this point. He's going to make a speech at around 10 minutes past 10, Eastern time. We believe he may address this issue, this terror attack at the top of his speech. But the optics don't look good. Here is the president of the United States, in a foreign country, shaking hands with a communist dictator, as people die and Europe is paralyzed by terror. ... As the West comes under attack. [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 3/22/16]

Varney: “President Obama dancing the night away while Europe mourns its dead.” On the March 24, 2016, edition of Fox Business' Varney & Co., Varney called the the visual of Obama dancing in Buenos Aires “another jarring image,” saying that it “is not going to go down well”:

STUART VARNEY (HOST): Another jarring image of President Obama dancing the night away while Europe mourns its dead. Good morning, everyone. This is not going to go down well. Four Americans still missing in Brussels, nine Americans wounded, Europe shellshocked and the president dances the tango in Buenos Aires. [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 3/24/16]

Frequent Fox guest Rudy Giuliani: Obama remaining on his trip “would be like Franklin Roosevelt remaining at Warm Springs when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.”  After the March 22, 2016, terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium, Fox’s Rudy Giuliani attacked former President Obama, saying, “It's outrageous that the president of the United States is not in the situation room right now, planning to destroy ISIS” and claiming, “He's sitting with a dictator, watching a baseball game, while innocent people are being killed in a war. Giuliani then compared the Obama administration’s response to terrorism to former President George W. Bush’s response, saying, “Bush took 9/11 really seriously. He hit them back like hell, right? And we didn't get a terror incident from then on,” but Obama “is not scaring them.” From the March 22 edition of Fox News’ Your World with Neil Cavuto:

RUDY GIULIANI: But just to get relevant to what is going on right now, it's outrageous that the president of the United States is not in the situation room right now, planning to destroy ISIS.

NEIL CAVUTO (HOST): What do you think the argument is, it's better that he's not? I talked to a Romney supporter who is saying, “You know, if he came rushing back, he would look frantic, and he's going about his business like he tells people.”

[...]

GIULIANI: That would be like Franklin Roosevelt remaining at Warm Springs when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

CAVUTO: But that was an attack on us, you know what I'm saying?

GIULIANI: This is an attack on one of our allies. We belong to NATO.

[...]

GIULIANI: And what's he doing? He's sitting with a dictator --

CAVUTO: Watching a baseball game.

GIULIANI: He's sitting with a dictator, watching a baseball game, while innocent people are being killed in a war.

CAVUTO: He doesn't equate it that way. You know what, and he said this before that --

GIULIANI: Well then he should give the job to somebody else.

CAVUTO: The terror incidents -- you don't obviously agree with that. But if you were there now and looking at what you have to do, what do you do?

GIULIANI: Well so far his strategy hasn't been working, right? Bush took 9/11 really seriously. He hit them back like hell, right? And we didn't get a terror incident from then on. He has been in office now for eight years and we've had four, five, six, seven? I mean, obviously he is not scaring them. They don't -- there is no worry about Barack Obama doing anything. He is a member --

[...]

GIULIANI: But if the president of the United States, who is the leader of the free world, or used to be the leader of the free world, took charge, we would have a plan. The plan should be, and I heard General Keane earlier, no plan. They should be in the situation room right now, and here is what the plan should be. What do we have to do to destroy ISIS? No time limit. None of this ridiculously insane, I think Biden invented time limits, time limits on wars. Imagine if we fought the Civil War with a time limit. We would have quit after three years, and we'd be a divided country. So here is the plan. Destroy ISIS. You're gone. You should give a speech tonight. [Fox News, Your World with Neil Cavuto, 3/22/16]

Fox's Andrew Napolitano: Instead of dancing in Cuba, “perhaps [Obama] should be giving a different impression of strength and preservation of freedom.” During a March 24, 2016, appearance on Fox News' Fox & Friends, Fox News legal analyst Andrew Napolitano asked if dancing the tango “is the impression” Obama “wants to convey ... when everybody else is worried about where ISIS is, who they're going to kill next, and are they going to come over here”:

ANDREW NAPOLITANO: At a time when we have a crisis, is that the impression that he wants to convey? He's a great dancer and maybe he didn't want to change his plans. But I'm not so sure he should be doing that when everybody else is worried about where ISIS is, who they're going to kill next, and are they going to come over here. Perhaps he should be giving a different impression of strength and preservation of freedom and safety. [Fox News Channel, Fox & Friends, 3/24/16]

Fox contributor Marc Thiessen: Obama is “on a tourist tri[p]” while “Brussels is under attack.” In a series of tweets on March 22, 2016, Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen slammed Obama for being “on a tourist tri[p] in Havana with his family” while Brussels was under attack and accused the president of “echoing Castro propaganda”:

Brussels under attack. Obama on a tourist trio in Havana with his family. Says it all.

— Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) March 22, 2016

No need for a time machine. He should not be in Cuba, period. And certainly not there echoing Castro propaganda https://t.co/lw9xmUFQai

— Marc Thiessen (@marcthiessen) March 22, 2016

 [Twitter.com, 3/22/16; 3/22/16]

Right-wing radio host Michael Berry: “I do not believe [Obama] has feelings for other people.” During the March 22, 2016, edition of iHeartRadio's The Michael Berry Show, host Michael Berry accused Obama of being “clearly bothered” that the terror attacks “interrupted” his “grand trip” to Cuba. Berry added that he gets the sense Obama is “a spoiled rotten only child” who demands attention and gets “mad” when he doesn't get it:

MICHAEL BERRY: President Obama is speaking in Havana right now clearly bothered that his grand trip, his crowning moment, is being interrupted by a terror attack in Belgium. I don't personally know Barack Obama. And it's a dangerous thing to assume what is in a man's heart if you don't know him, but I have his deeds, I have almost eight years of his deeds in public life, actually I have over eight years if you count when he was running. And I feel very comfortable saying, and I do not care what anyone thinks in response -- you can have your own impression, but you can't have mine. I do not believe that this man has feelings for other people. There's an interesting interview we'll play for you of Donald Trump, and I actually do compare the two of them for a number of reasons. The deep insecurities, the inability to empathize with other people. The language of empathy is not the emotion of empathy. And listen, we've all known the lady that wants to mother everybody and feels bad for everyone, and pat them on the head and make it all go away. I'm not asking for that. But there is a sense of connection human beings have at the animal level, a sense of connection that smiles when they see a baby, that is concerned when they see the elderly shuffling along, that reacts when a man hits a woman, that when there's an accident wants to dive in and help and pull people out. That's a sense of humanness and I get out of Obama the idea that he is a spoiled rotten only child demanding that his parents or his mommy turn and pay attention to me, what I'm doing right here, right now, and it's his birthday party and the house next door has burned down and people have left the cake and gone outside to watch as the next door family is dragged out dead and he's mad. It's his birthday. [iHeart Radio, The Michael Berry Show, 3/22/16]

Fox's Peter Johnson Jr. claimed Obama intentionally dismissed terror in Brussels to seem cool. On the March 23, 2016, edition of Fox News’ Outnumbered, Fox’s Peter Johnson claimed the president’s reaction to the Brussels attack was “I'm so cool, I'm so detached from the affairs of the world, I'm not going to be bothered by terror, you're not going to affect my schedule” and concluded that his disposition toward terror has “hurt us in America.”

PETER JOHNSON: Remember after the Charlie Hebdo massacre? The president skipped the Paris unity rally after those attacks.

STEVE DOOCY (HOST): The president was busy.

JOHNSON: And remember San Bernardino? Well they tried to tell us that wasn't terror. He went to Hawaii and then visited San Bernardino 17 days later. So what we had yesterday, Brussels, the killing fields. The president decided that he wanted to pursue the field of dreams. The president wanted to say, I'm so cool, I'm so detached from the affairs of the world, I'm not going to be bothered by terror, you're not going to affect my schedule. But this has been part and parcel of his M.O. going forward over the last seven and a half years and it's hurt us in America. You know the National Terror Advisory System, we're getting all these warnings, FBI, Homeland Security, be careful in the subway, be careful in bus stations. We're on high alert. But they don't raise the terror level in any way. They don't give us any specific information. So unfortunately, this is a president who's checked out. For a long, long time. And so his lack of a plan is him trying to show, well, I'm really a cool guy, I'm not really disturbed by this. We're doing what we need do which unfortunately is not very much. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/23/16]

Fox & Friends' Brian Kilmeade: What can the administration do to help “people who are getting a little concerned that security in our country doesn't have our back?” Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade asked Van Hipp about ”people who are getting a little concerned that security in our country doesn't have our back," to which Hipp replied, “Political correctness is literally killing us in this country.”

VAN HIPP: The fight against radical Islam is the challenge of our time. In my book, The New Terrorism: How to Fight It and Defeat It, we talk about how since the 1500s, they've been talking about this. It's the challenge of our time.

BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Yup, you know, you have the president who mocks people who are concerned about the types of people we're letting into our country, because they are listed as refugees. Even the pope is taking people who have problems like that to task. At the same time, when you're tolerant, a lot of times your neighbor becomes your terrorist or your bomber. When you go to get your ticket punched, or you go to get a ticket to travel in an international location, next thing you know you're a victim. What do you have to say to people who are getting a little concerned that security in our country doesn't have our back?

VAN HIPP: Brian, political correctness is literally killing us in this country. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/22/16]

Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft: Obama “gives speech to … Commies” during Brussels attacks.

You just can't make this up! Jihadists Blow Up Brussels Metro, Airport -- @BarackObama gives speech to Cuba Commies! pic.twitter.com/4XUnudTwT7

— Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) March 22, 2016

 [Twitter.com, 3/22/16]

Independent Journal Review's Benny Johnson: The president condemned attacks for “less than 1 min,” then thanked “a terrorist regime.”

Obama spent less than 1 min condemning terrorist attacks in Belgium, before launching directly into thanking a terrorist regime in Havana.

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 22, 2016

 [Twitter.com, 3/22/16]

National Journal's Josh Kraushaar: Obama spoke only “a few sentences on Brussels,” then talked about “how gracious” the Castro government has been.

Just a few sentences on Brussels from the president. He then talks about how gracious the Castro govt has been to him and his family.

— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) March 22, 2016

 [Twitter.com, 3/22/16]

Daily Wire's Ben Shapiro: “Obama posed in front of a terrorist mural yesterday, so I guess a couple lines vaguely condemning Islamic terrorism is all we could expect.”

Obama posed in front of a terrorist mural yesterday, so I guess a couple lines vaguely condemning Islamic terrorism is all we could expect.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 22, 2016

 [Twitter.com, 3/22/16]

Fox's Monica Crowley: “Obama gives his usual perfunctory, passionless statement on the latest Islamic terror attack. We desperately need real leadership.”

Obama gives his usual perfunctory, passionless statement on the latest Islamic terror attack. We desperately need real leadership. #help

— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) March 22, 2016

 [Twitter.com, 3/22/16]

Fox’s Melissa Francis: “Where is our president to organize the world & stand up to the threat?”

Radical Islam in on FIRE in the mideast where is our President to organize the world & stand up to the threat? Gen Keene @AmericaNewsroom

— Melissa Francis (@MelissaAFrancis) March 22, 2016

 [Twitter.com, 3/22/16]

After the 2015 Paris attacks, right-wing media figures attacked Obama and immigration

Right-wing media immediately criticize Obama after he condemned Paris attacks. Following Obama’s condemnation of the 2015 terrorist attacks in a concert hall in Paris, France, which he called “terror” and an “attack on all humanity,” right-wing media personalities rushed to attack him for not criticizing Islam and to accuse him of “feckless leadership.” [Media Matters, 11/14/15]

Fox's Elisabeth Hasselbeck exploited the Paris attacks to criticize Obama, asking if “now [is] the time” to be releasing prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. On the November 16, 2015, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, then-co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck spoke with Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) about the aftermath of the attacks in Paris committed by ISIS operatives. During the interview, Hasselbeck stated that “a lot of people feel as though [the Obama] administration is in denial” because five non-ISIS-related prisoners were set to be released from Guantanamo Bay two days after the attacks:

ELISABETH HASSELBECK (HOST): What's your feeling on this? A lot of people feel as though this administration is in denial just two days after the Paris bloodshed, chairman. The Obama administration released five Gitmo detainees to the U.A.E. Is now the time to be doing something like this?

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): Absolutely not. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 11/16/15]

Fox's Heather Nauert criticized the transfer of detainees from Guantanamo Bay after the Paris attacks. Then-Fox anchor Heather Nauert on the November 16, 2015, edition of Fox & Friends linked the terrorist attacks in Paris to the unrelated transfer of five Yemeni detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United Arab Emirates:

HEATHER NAUERT: Five Yemeni detainees with suspected ties to Al Qaeda transferred out of Guantanamo Bay just days after the attacks in Paris. The Department of Defense announcing that they were sent to the United Arab Emirates. U.S. officials insisting a comprehensive review determined that they no longer pose a threat. One hundred seven prisoners remain at Guantanamo Bay. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 11/16/15]

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: “I don't understand ... why this president still feels like ISIS is contained and everything is OK.” On the November 16, 2015, edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, co-host Joe Scarborough mischaracterized the comments Obama made to ABC News on November 12, 2015, -- before the Paris terror attacks occurred -- to claim that the president believes “ISIS is contained and everything is OK”:

MIKA BRZEZINSKI (CO-HOST): Just a day before the Paris attacks, you alluded to this -- President Obama told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that ISIS had been, quote, “contained.”

[...]

JOE SCARBOROUGH (CO-HOST): This is a president that has been underselling the threat --

BRZEZINSKI: I think his words on Friday were unfortunate.

SCARBOROUGH -- of ISIS to the world. His words Friday were unfortunate. His words during the 2012 campaign were unfortunate. The White House's words this weekend saying that ISIS couldn't, they did not have the capability to hit us here, were unfortunate. I don't understand and millions of Americans don't understand and I guarantee you a lot of people in France don't understand why this president still feels like ISIS is contained and everything is OK. [MSNBC, Morning Joe, 11/16/15]

Fox's Brian Kilmeade: Obama “does not feel” that ISIS must be destroyed in Syria and Iraq. On the November 16, 2015, edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade claimed that following the attacks in Paris Obama “has no plans to do anything different” and that he “does not feel” that ISIS needs to be destroyed in Syria and Iraq:

GERALDO RIVERA: We have to destroy ISIS in Syria and Iraq or this will be the future for our children and our children’s children.

BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Thank you for saying that because the president does not feel that way. He wants to contain, he says it's long-term. And according to The New York Times today he has no plans to do anything different. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 11/16/15]

The Daily Caller: “Obama declared ISIS was 'contained'” hours before the attacks in Paris. The Daily Caller attacked Obama for telling ABC's George Stephanopoulos in an interview that ISIS has been “contained”:

President Obama declared ISIS was “contained” Friday morning, hours ahead of simultaneous attacks reportedly carried out by ISIS in Paris left at least 140 people dead. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America,” Obama asserted that ISIS was not gaining strength and that “we have contained them.”

[...]

If the Paris attacks are genuinely the work of ISIS-aligned militants, it may be the second major ISIS-related attack in the past few weeks to come outside of the Syria and Iraq region. The group has also taken credit for the destruction of Russia's Metrojet Flight 9268, which crashed in the Sinai two weeks ago, killing 224. [The Daily Caller, 11/13/15]

Radio host Rush Limbaugh: Obama gave “no condemnation to speak of of ISIS” during press conference. After  Obama addressed the terror attacks in Paris, radio host Rush Limbaugh claimed that Obama made “no condemnation to speak of of ISIS” for the attacks in Paris:

RUSH LIMBAUGH (HOST): In this press conference today, Obama got animated, he got passionate, energetic when talking about that. When talking about ISIS, it was -- what's the word for it? It was impersonal, it was detached, it was as though he was talking theory and philosophy in the faculty lounge. He wasn't talking about specifics, and there was no condemnation to speak of of ISIS. There was an acknowledgement that they're bad guys, but there was no condemnation, not like there was condemnation of these Republicans, who think it would be wise to keep Syrian refugees out of America right now. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 11/16/15]

Radio host Glenn Beck: “All of the decisions that the president has championed” led us to the Paris attacks. While appearing as a guest on the November 16, 2015, edition of Fox News’ The Kelly File, radio host Glenn Beck criticized Obama and suggested that “all of these decisions that the president has championed” with regard to foreign policy in the Middle East led to the Paris attacks. [Fox News, The Kelly File, 11/16/15]

Fox’s Tucker Carlson claimed the Paris attacks were “a direct result of [France’s] immigration policy” and that Obama is “importing the threat” to the U.S. On the November 19, 2015, edition of Fox & Friends, Fox’s Tucker Carlson blamed France’s immigration policy for the attacks and asserted that “the Obama administration is importing the threat” and seeking to “replicate” France, which he said has “massive numbers of totally unassimilated people who hate the culture they live in and seek to destroy it”:

TUCKER CARLSON (CO-HOST): The government, meanwhile, the Obama administration, is importing the threat. Isn't that the lesson of France? You have massive numbers of totally unassimilated people who hate the culture they live in and seek to destroy it. Why would you want to replicate that here? I'm not sure.

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Well, because the administration and their surrogates, they say, look, we're safe. There's a big puddle of water between us and the bad guys, but how big is that exactly? There's a haunting story yesterday, and when you think of law enforcement experts you don't regularly think of Honduras as being the crack police squad and yet it was the country of Honduras that arrested five Syrians. Apparently they had flown in from Costa Rica, and they handed the authorities their passports, there they are right there. They are Greek passports, and they are stolen, and the reason they knew they were stolen, because the five guys traveling had actually pasted their pictures over the pictures of whoever they stole the passports from.

[...]

CARLSON: This matters. France happened as a direct result of their immigration policy. There's no lesson for us? I think there is. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 11/19/15]

Radio host Sean Hannity: Obama is a “pathological illness of a president that is incapable of acknowledging radical Islam exists.” On the November 17, 2015, edition of The Sean Hannity Show, host Sean Hannity asserted that Obama called the terror attacks in Paris “just a little setback.” Hannity also argued that Obama was “a pathological illness of a president” who does not understand the threat of ISIS:

SEAN HANNITY: If you think it's bad that we have a, what is now a pathological illness of a president that is incapable of acknowledging radical Islam exists, and refuses to say the words, and passes off euphemisms like man-caused disasters, and overseas contingency operations, and workplace violence, and the JV team, and tells us before the Paris attacks that they're contained. ... And then saying after the attack, “Oh, that's just a little setback.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 11/17/15]

After the 2016 Nice, France, attacks, right-wing media figures claimed Obama wasn’t fighting terrorism

Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro after Nice attacks: “We could fight terrorism, but as Obama reminds us, that's not who we are.”

We could fight terrorism, but as Obama reminds us, that's not who we are.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 14, 2016

 [Twitter, 7/14/16]

Conservative writer Matthew Vadum: “The Religion of Peace assaults #Nice France. Obama wants more of these people imported to America.”

The Religion of Peace assaults #Nice France. Obama wants more of these people imported to America. #tcot #p2

— Matthew Vadum (@vadum) July 14, 2016

 [Twitter, 7/14/16]

Fox’s Newt Gingrich: Nice attack was “the fault of Western elites who lack the guts to do what is right, to do what is necessary, and to tell us the truth, and that starts with Barack Obama.” Now-Fox contributor Newt Gingrich, following the Nice attacks, called for a “test” for “every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported.” He added that the attacks were “the fault of Western elites who lack the guts to do what is right, to do what is necessary, and to tell us the truth, and that starts with Barack Obama.” From the July 14 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): I don't want to really tie this into politics, but every issue America is now dealing with, every issue that we have discussed in recent months and years about the Islamization of Europe, about refugees, about immigration, about open borders -- it seems to come together, and also political correctness and not recognizing radical Islamic terrorism as the enemy and evil in our time. From your perspective, what does this tragedy, this evil attack tonight, mean for that conflict and debate?

[...]

NEWT GINGRICH: Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported. Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization. Modern Muslims who have given up Sharia, glad to have them as citizens. Perfectly happy to have them next door. But we need to be fairly relentless about defining who our enemies are. Anybody who goes on a website favoring ISIS, or Al Qaeda, or other terrorist groups, that should be a felony, and they should go to jail. Any organization which hosts such a website should be engaged in a felony. It should be closed down immediately.

Our forces should be used to systematically destroy every internet-based source. And frankly if we can't destroy them through the internet, we should destroy them with kinetic power, using various weapons starting with Predators, and frankly just killing them. I am sick and tired of being told that the wealthiest, most powerful civilization in history, all of Western civilization, is helpless in the face of a group of medieval barbarians who, for example, recently burned 20 young women to death -- burned them to death because they wouldn't have sex with them. A group which beheaded recently in the Philippines two Canadian businessmen.

And we're told to be reasonable, to be passive, to not judge. Well I just want to tell you tonight, everybody who watches this video, this is the fault of Western elites who lack the guts to do what is right, to do what is necessary, and to tell us the truth, and that starts with Barack Obama. [Fox News, Hannity, 7/14/16]

Right-wing media condemned Obama for not blaming Islam after the 2016 massacre in Orlando, FL

Fox’s Bret Baier after Orlando, FL, shooting: “There was no mention” by Obama “of Islam or radical Islam or, for that matter, terrorists.” Fox News host Bret Baier noted that the president said the shooter “did get access to guns and raised, again, the question about how easy it is to get a weapon in America,” adding, “There was no mention of Islam or radical Islam or, for that matter, terrorists.” From the June 12 edition of Fox News’ America’s Election HQ:

BRET BAIER (HOST): President Obama at the White House Briefing Room saying that this is being investigated by his FBI as “an act of terror.” Meeting with his national security team, saying he is committed to putting the full resources of the federal government behind this investigation. He said there is no definitive judgment as to the official motivation to this shooter. The person, he said, “was filled with hatred.” He went on to say that he did get access to guns and raised, again, the question about how easy it is to get a weapon in America. There was no mention of Islam or radical Islam or, for that matter, terrorists striking the U.S., even though his FBI investigators tell Fox News that this particular shooter pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIS in the moments before the shooting began, and the investigation is heading down that road. [Fox News, America’s Election HQ, 6/12/16]

Fox’s Monica Crowley after Orlando shooting: “No mention of Islam” by Obama.

No mention of Islam. https://t.co/b1G7jaqZFC

— Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) June 12, 2016

 [Twitter, 6/12/16]

Fox’s Tammy Bruce: Obama after Orlando shooting talked about “the ease [with] which people can get weapons,” but “has not mentioned Islamic terrorism.”

OMG, now he's talking about the ease w which people can get weapons. Has not mentioned Islamic terrorism.

— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) June 12, 2016

 [Twitter, 6/12/16]

Fox’s Todd Starnes after Orlando shooting: “So the jihadist pledges allegiance to ISIS & shouts Allah Akbar as he massacres Americans -- yet Obama says they can’t determine the motive.”

So the jihadist pledges allegiance to ISIS & shouts Allah Akbar as he massacres Americans -- yet Obama says they can't determine the motive

— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) June 12, 2016

[Twitter, 6/12/16]

Fox’s Newt Gingrich: “President Obama’s statement on Orlando is as false as his statement on Benghazi.”

President Obama's statement on Orlando is as false as his statement on Benghazi. Murderer pledged allegiance to ISIS,yelled Allahu Akbar.

— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) June 12, 2016

[Twitter, 6/12/16]

Fox's Jeanine Pirro suggested Obama had no empathy for families and victims of Orlando shooting. On the June 14 edition of Fox News’ Outnumbered, Jeanine Pirro said, “If this president had for one minute tried to give some empathy to the victims and their families in Orlando, then we would have been cheering him on,” but that he spent more time talking about possible anti-Muslim backlash:

JEANINE PIRRO: It seems that the difference in terms of his delivery was when he got into the political issues, the issue of guns and the issue of what he considers possible anti-Muslim backlash. If this president had for one minute tried to give some empathy to the victims and their families in Orlando, then we would have been cheering him on. This president spent more time about dealing with the fact that it's not a religious war, that we can't paint Muslims with the same brush and he starts by saying, which is bizarre, we're going to cut off ISIL's money. Where have you been? Of course you're going to cut off ISIL's money. [Fox News, Outnumbered, 6/14/16]

Limbaugh responded to Orlando attack by saying, “People have a legitimate question about whether Obama opposes terrorists.” On the June 14 edition of his show, Rush Limbaugh questioned “whether Obama opposes terrorists”:

RUSH LIMBAUGH: Obama says something along the lines of, “And finally, throughout all of this, my critics, my friends on the other side of the aisle have been saying that I'm not taking any of this seriously because I refuse to use the label 'radical Islam.'” And after saying that, he started asking questions. He said, “Is calling them radical Islamists, is it going to change their strategy? Is it going to make them cower in fear? Is it going to make them run away? Does it increase our odds of beating them, calling them 'radical Islamists'? What difference does this label make?” And he's missing the entire point of it, obviously on purpose. Now he's trying to say it doesn't matter what they are, because they're perverting a great religion and he's working with Islamist leaders all over the world to try to reign in these radical Islamists who are perverting this great religion.

[...]

He is entirely missing the point of why people are raising the point that he, nor people in his regime, will actually identify what we are up against. It's not that using a label to describe them will affect them. It's that people have a legitimate question about whether Obama opposes them. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 6/14/16]

Then-Breitbart editor and current Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka blamed Obama and “political correctness” for the Orlando shooting. Appearing on the June 12 edition of Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, current Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka said the attack “in part was facilitated by the policies of this administration, President Obama and Secretary Clinton, that have allowed political correctness into the threat assessment.” Gorka continued, “I beg the White House, stop with the political correctness.” From the episode:

SEBASTIAN GORKA: Maria, we need to stop using words like shocking. Nobody should be shocked. This is what they have been planning to do after Paris, after Brussels. Nobody should be surprised. Likewise, this isn't to be called a tragedy. This isn't an Amtrak train being derailed. This is part of the global jihadi strategy. It's not an accident. It is war against America. And lastly, please, please, I beg my colleagues in the U.S. government, we have to stop talking about this maybe being a hate crime. It's not a hate crime. It is part of an ideological military assault on the United States of America. We have arrested 101 people linked to ISIS on U.S. soil since the caliphate was declared. This attack in part was facilitated by the policies of this administration, President Obama and Secretary Clinton, that have allowed political correctness into the threat assessment. Today I beg the White House, stop with the political correctness. We need to destroy this enemy before more innocent people, gay, straight, black, white, brown, yellow are murdered on U.S. soil. [Fox News, Sunday Morning Futures, 6/12/16]

After the 2015 San Bernardino attack, right-wing media again attacked Obama

Fox News contributor Erick Erickson blamed President Obama for telling “people to take guns to knife fights,” misrepresenting a metaphor from a movie Obama had invoked. Fox News contributor Erick Erickson tweeted that “mass shootings ... weren't so common until after Obama told people to take guns to knife fights.” According to FactCheck.org, “Obama made those remarks [about Republicans] at a fundraiser in Philadelphia during the 2008 presidential campaign. He was paraphrasing a quote from the 1987 mob movie 'The Untouchables.'”

People keep blaming the NRA for mass shootings, but they weren't so common until after Obama told people to take guns to knife fights.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) December 2, 2015

 [Twitter, 12/2/15; FactCheck.org, 1/14/11]

On Fox & Friends, hosts lamented that “it's a sad state” when President Obama “gets credit” for calling the San Bernardino shooting “terrorism.” The day after Obama’s December 6, 2015, remarks on the San Bernardino shooting, Fox & Friends hosts criticized Obama, with Elisabeth Hasselbeck claiming, “It's a sad state when [Obama] gets credit for actually using the word [terrorism] that should have been used all along.”  [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/7/16]

“Thank God we have President Trump”: Here’s how right-wing media are responding to the Manchester terror attack

Infowars' Alex Jones: Victims of the attack were “liberal trendies.” Radio host and Trump ally Alex Jones, in a YouTube video from May 22, said that “a big bomb” went off “at a pop star’s rock concert bombing a bunch of liberal trendies.” He added that the victims were the “same people -- god love them -- on average who are promoting open borders, bringing Islamists in.” From the YouTube video:

ALEX JONES: Trump didn’t just sign a deal for $350 billion over the next decade, the first tranche, $105 billion, to be paid out in the next year by Saudi Arabia and United States in an arms deal. He transferred to them linkage into a threat fusion center, the biggest in the world that’s been publicly shown. They won’t show the NSA and FBI threat fusion centers. They won’t show the CIA ones either. But they showed this giant center and I covered it earlier tonight, it’s on Infowars.com. So they’re transferred the weapons, they’re transferred the technology, they’re transferred access into the surveillance grid. And less than 24 hours after President Trump finishes that speech, a big bomb goes off at a pop star’s rock concert bombing a bunch of liberal trendies. The same people -- god love them -- on average who are promoting open borders, bringing Islamists in. [Media Matters, 5/23/17]

Fox host and guest use Manchester attack to attack civil rights and push for a Muslim ban. Fox & Friends hosted James Mitchell, the architect of the CIA’s torture program during former President George W. Bush’s administration, to discuss the attack. Mitchell said that “civil rights make it very difficult to act pre-emptively to stop these kinds of attacks” in the United States. Co-host Brian Kilmeade added that that was why Trump “was saying, if most of the terrorists are coming from these nations who can't identify who is coming here, at least there's got to be a pause to protect the American people.” From the May 23 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:

JAMES MITCHELL: Our problem, and I would agree with Judge Napolitano, is that we're playing catch up. We treat this like a law enforcement issue instead of being proactive. It has been one of my chief concerns all along. In law enforcement, a crime has already happened. In the United States, we have civil rights, which I applaud and don't want to see removed, but those civil rights make it very difficult to act pre-emptively to stop these kinds of attacks.

BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): That's why the president of the United States, who clearly is showing the Muslim world he is not anti-Muslim, was saying, if most of the terrorists are coming from these nations who can't identify who is coming here, at least there's got to be a pause to protect the American people. It seems almost logical. Now, you know most of the hijackers are from Saudi Arabia. Do you believe we saw a different Saudi mindset two days ago?

[...]

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Meanwhile, going back to what happened last night in Manchester, there's a story out today and Brian brought this up, 3,500 suspected terrorists in Great Britain. They're doing their best, God bless them, to try to keep them under surveillance, but I think the big question today is going to be, now that they know who this guy apparently was, is, was he on the list? Where they keeping eyeballs on this guy and if not all the time, why not?

MITCHELL: It's a problem. The problem is that -- and I don't, I don't want to sound like some sort of thug. But the problem is we have civil rights that allow them to operate in the open for the most part until they commit a crime. Let me share one thing with you. As you know, I'm being sued by three terrorists. Their ACLU lawyers will not even stipulate that 9/11 happened. With that kind of approach to this, it's very difficult to get into pre-emptively stopping these kinds of attacks because they have people who protect them under the guise of protecting the civil rights. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/23/17]

Fox guest used Manchester attack to criticize Obama for not saying “radical Islamists.” Former CIA Director and Trump adviser James Woolsey suggested on Fox that these kinds of attacks were due to not having “a situation” “in the eight years of the Obama administration” where the “president … is pretty straightforward that he is at war with” “radical Islamists.” Fox host Shepard Smith pushed back, saying Obama “fought a number of wars and certainly didn't say that he didn't want to win them.” From Fox News' May 22 reporting:

JAMES WOOLSEY: Things are kind of coming to a head. I think the radical Islamists, and I would call them that, have decided to pick up the pace with the terrorist attacks, and I think we'll probably see some more. And we now have a president who is pretty straightforward that he is at war with them. He's not going to soft-pedal that. He calls them “evil,” and we haven't had a situation like that. We did not have, in the eight years of the Obama administration, a president who wanted to fight and win a war, and --

SHEPARD SMITH (HOST): President Obama fought a number of wars and certainly didn't say that he didn't want to win them. It's very early -- Mr. Woolsey, with great respect, it's very early to make this a political matter. [Fox News, Live Coverage Of A Suspected Terror Attack In Manchester, England, 5/22/17]

Fox’s Nigel Farage: Attack Could “Change The Whole Debate” Of The Upcoming British Election. Fox contributor Nigel Farage said the attacks would impact the upcoming British election, saying it “clearly has the potential to change the way people think and to change the whole debate.” From the May 22 edition of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight:

TUCKER CARLSON: (HOST): There's [a British] election coming up. Does this play a role?

NIGEL FARAGE: Well, so far in the election, we've been talking basically about Brexit and competing Brexit, and actually terror, open-door immigration, they've played relatively low roles in the election campaign so far. Now, there are 16 days to go. If it were to turn out that this attack, let's say for argument's sake, had been taken place by somebody who's been fighting with ISIS in Syria and had returned home, then it clearly has the potential to change the way people think and to change the whole debate. We've just not been talking about security in this election at all so far. From tomorrow morning, we will be. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/22/17]

Fox’s Rick Grenell: “Thank God we have President Trump.” Fox contributor Rick Grenell, in response to the attack, said, “Thank God we have President Trump.” He added that Trump “is very clear-eyed and understand the threat that we are facing and I feel much safer with Donald Trump in charge.” From the May 22 edition of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight:

TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): Rick, there's a lot we don't know about what apparently has just happened tonight in Manchester. Nineteen dead, at least 50 wounded, but those words might turn out to be directly relevant to what we're watching.

RICK GRENELL: Yeah, thank God we have President Trump. That's all I can say. Look at what's happening in Manchester looks purposeful. It looks like it was designed to maim and kill and that is the definition of terrorism. So the lessons that we need to learn, Tucker, are we as Americans need to be vigilant. We need to always be ready. It can happen at any time. Europe looks like it is at the forefront of what’s been happening. We've seen multiple attacks now. I think publics and people, whether you're in Europe or in the United States, you need to be looking for leaders who are very clear-eyed about the attacks that are underway, about the war that we are in. This is a very serious situation. We must have policies that lead us towards intelligence-gathering techniques so that we can do everything we can to try to stop these attacks before they happen. It's impossible to be able to do, but there are tools that we can take and policies that we can implement. The public must stand vigilant, and I think that what we've seen over the last couple of days in Saudi Arabia from our president, who's on his way to Europe, I think that this president is very clear-eyed and understands the threat that we are facing and I feel much safer with Donald Trump in charge. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/22/17]