Brent Bozell Defends Fox's “Atrocious” Aslan Interview

Fox News hosted conservative activist and media critic Brent Bozell to defend a widely criticized interview by Fox's Lauren Green and continue the right-wing media's attack on Muslim scholar Reza Aslan.

During an interview with writer and scholar Reza Aslan, Fox News religion correspondent Lauren Green ignored the content of his book and his academic credentials, instead repeatedly questioning the motivation and propriety of a Muslim writing a book about Jesus, suggesting a religious bias.

Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center, defended Green during the America Live segment, saying: “I'll be the first one to stand up and applaud Lauren Green for the question that she asked. It was the exact, correct question that needed to be asked.” He went on to criticize Aslan's response to Green's suggestion of religious bias -- that he's a scholar of religions, that it's his job to write about religion -- calling it arrogant and further claiming that if Aslan was indeed writing without bias, then “he's not a very good Muslim.”

Green has come under widespread criticism for the interview. As Media Matters pointed out, Green failed to meet her own standards since she, a Christian, has reported on Muslims in the past. Aslan responded to his interview with Green by pointing out Fox's "inherent anti-Muslim bias."

Green's interview has since been described by critics as "atrocious." Abe Levy, a religion writer for the San Antonio Express-News wrote: “anyone can scrutinize a particular faith if they have studied it, you don't have to be of that particular faith. In my line of work, you want to have a deep respect for a particular religion, even if it is not your own, but you don't have to be of a particular faith to cover it.” A former writer for Christianity Today magazine said: “when it comes to the author, she could have looked at his credentials, she was trying to get at a controversy and wasn't sure what the controversy was.”

The interview first gained attention after Buzzfeed posted it under the headline “Is This The Most Embarrasing Interview Fox News Has Ever Done?” The segment was also described by Slate as "the single most cringe-worthy, embarrassing interview on Fox News."