Meet The Extremists Who Lead Fox's Conversation About Islam

Fox News has responded to the attack on the satirical French paper Charlie Hebdo by inviting notorious Islamophobes to appear as guests in discussions about Islam, terrorism, and immigration.

In the week after the attack, Fox News hosts themselves produced shockingly Islamophobic and xenophobic rhetoric. For instance, Sean Hannity wondered if the U.S. should “insist” on assimilation from Muslim immigrants, and Bob Beckel admitted, “I'm an Islamophobe.” But it's not just the hosts: Fox has given many media figures with a clear record of Islamophobia a platform in the week following the Charlie Hebdo attack, making the debate on the network drastically more extreme.

Steve Emerson

A self-styled “terrorism expert,” Emerson prompted outrage and ridicule in Britain by claiming in a January 10 appearance on Fox News' Justice with Judge Jeanine that Birmingham, the second-largest city in the United Kingdom, is “totally Muslim” and a place “where non-Muslims just simply don't go in.” Birmingham is, in fact, 22 percent Muslim. Emerson has also appeared on Fox News on at least three other occasions since the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris, including an appearance on Hannity the night of the attack in which he declared Europe “finished” because of its supposedly high numbers of non-assimilated Muslims.

Even before British Prime Minister David Cameron said that Emerson is “clearly an idiot” because of his comments, Emerson had little credibility on terrorism. During coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, Emerson claimed on Fox that the suspect was a Saudi national -- a claim that was later thoroughly discredited. After the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Emerson claimed that it had “a Middle Eastern trait” because it “was done with the intent to inflict as many casualties as possible.” Emerson also said that Oklahoma City was “probably considered one of the largest centers of Islamic radical activity outside the Middle East.”

Brigitte Gabriel

Gabriel is the founder of ACT! for America, which the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) says has “eagerly tapped into a groundswell of anti-Muslim rage and done what it could to fan the flames.” She has appeared on Fox several times since the Charlie Hebdo attack, despite her history of extreme Islamophobia. Gabriel was a guest on the January 7 edition of Hannity, where she said that Muslims in Europe “started multiplying” after World War II and did not assimilate and that Europe is “paying the price” because it “ignored the cancer growing within its body when it was at Stage Two.” In her appearance on the January 8 edition of The Kelly File, she argued that the “Islamic religion” forbids Muslims to assimilate.

In September 2014, Gabriel told an audience at the Values Voter Summit that “180 million to 300 million” Muslims are “radical Islamists who are willing to strap bombs on their bodies and walk into this room and blow us all up to smithereens.” In June 2014, Gabriel berated a Muslim student who had criticized members of a Heritage Foundation panel on Islam, calling her a liar and saying, “Your loyalty is somewhere else. It's time we see more patriotism from the Muslim community and less terrorism.” A prominent Middle East expert and editor of The Oxford History of Islam called Gabriel “a professional Muslim basher.”

Nigel Farage

Farage is the leader of the U.K. Independence Party (UKIP), an anti-immigration party, and has appeared on Fox three times since the Hebdo attack. On January 7, the night of the attack, Farage appeared on Your World with Neil Cavuto, arguing that “the biggest mistake the governments have made” is “promoting multiculturalism” and that “we come from countries with Christian cultures and Christian constitutions, and it's about time we started standing up for that.” On January 12, Farage joined the hosts of Fox & Friends to criticize “open door” immigration policies and defend his attacks on multiculturalism. Farage also appeared on Hannity that night, where he warned that Sharia law is being implemented in British Muslim communities.

Farage and the party he leads have a history of extremism on Islam. In 2010, Farage called for burqas to be banned, saying they were a symbol of “an increasingly divided Britain” and could pose a security risk. In February 2014, the party's immigration spokesman, Gerard Batten, said he stood by his 2006 charter for Muslims, a code of conduct that all British Muslims should sign stating they reject violence. The Guardian reported that the charter was once promoted on the party's website.

Frank Gaffney

Gaffney, a Washington Times columnnist and founder of the Center for Security Policy, appeared on the January 12 edition of Justice with Judge Jeanine. He argued that President Obama is “engaged in basically trying to enforce Sharia blasphemy laws” and said that “most of those who are being brought here” -- apparently referring to Muslims -- are bringing “no-go zones” here as their “preferred practice.”

Gaffney was once described by the SPLC as “the anti-Muslim movement's most paranoid propagandist.” In 2011, he was prohibited from participating in the Conservative Political Action Conference after he claimed it had been infiltrated by Islamic extremists and accused prominent conservative Grover Norquist of being a mole for the Muslim Brotherhood.

Jerry Boykin

Boykin, a retired Army lieutenant general and deputy undersecretary for defense under George W. Bush, was a guest on the January 9 edition of Fox & Friends to comment on a hostage situation at a printing press outside Paris involving suspects in the Charlie Hebdo attack. Boykin argued that these were “sophisticated terrorists” and that what they were doing is “a reflection of what's growing in these no-go zones.”

Boykin has drawn criticism and faced consequences for making Islamophobic comments in the past. In 2010, Boykin called Islam a “totalitarian way of life,” and in 2012 Boykin called Islam “evil.”

Robert Spencer

Spencer, director of the Jihad Watch website, appeared on Hannity on January 9. Spencer claimed that a “core principle” in Islam is “the idea of emigrating to a new place to conquer and Islamize it, and that's exactly what we're seeing.” He also cited the “much higher” birth rate of Muslim populations as evidence that “Sharia enclaves” will “inevitably grow and continue to grow until, finally, that's all there is.”

Spencer once stated that it's “absurd” to think that “Islam is a religion of peace that's been hijacked by a tiny minority” and that there is a “doctrine of warfare” in Islam. According to the SPLC, Spencer “engages in fear-mongering through steady reference to theories like 'stealth jihad,' eminent 'Islamization of America,' and the infiltration of Congress by 'Muslim spy interns.' ”