While Tony Perkins, president of the homophobic hate group The Family Research Council, is appearing less and less on the mainstream media, he continues to be embraced by Fox News, especially on the Kelly File where his views are validated. His appearances serve to promote right wing talking points and the requisite Fox Obama bashing. Perkins' Tuesday night appearance on the Kelly File was no exception. He articulated the Fox/rightwing meme of Christian persecution along with the Fox/rightwing meme that Pres. Obama is ignoring it! As propaganda it was vintage Perkins and vintage Kelly File.
At the beginning of the segment, Martha MacCallum (subbing for Megyn Kelly), in keeping with Fox efforts to avoid mention that Yazidis and other Muslims are also being persecuted, did not mention the word Yazidi when she referenced the prior segment about the effort to rescue - wait for it - Yazidis. She introduced Perkins who recently told one of his radio callers that those who support gay rights "will be rolling out the boxcars to start hauling off Christians."
As footage of the Yazidis rolled, Perkins bemoaned the situation of those who are being persecuted in Iraq. He spoke of how ISIS has been, for over a year, persecuting Christians in Syria and Iraq. He predicted "that there will be so much more to come unless we act decisively." In keeping with the patented Fox anti-Muslim bias, MacCallum asked why "we don't hear anything more decisively from moderate Muslim groups about ISIS..." (MacCallum is either not doing any research or is just interested in anti-Muslim propaganda because a number of Muslim groups, including CAIR, have spoken out against the violence.) This question queued up a convenient opportunity for Perkins to start the Obama bashing.
He asked why "we're not hearing from our own administration about this." He then OMG brought up the Yazidis but only as a means to attack Obama with a big fat Christian lie. He admitted that, in authorizing the recent US air strikes, Obama used the word "genocide" in reference to the Yazidis; but "this genocide has been occurring for months as it pertains to Christians and the President still can't bring himself to say that Christians all over the world dating back to the most continuous Christian community in the history of Christendom are being systematically killed...the President can't bring himself to say that" MacCallum, solemnly, thanked Perkins.
Once again, Fox used Christian persecution to bash the President. Once again, Fox "News" omitted the fact that Muslims are also being persecuted. And once again, Fox let stand a lie. Good Christian family values guy, Perkins, claims that Obama has said nothing. Really?
Obama recently said that "these terrorists have been especially brutal to religious minorities including Christians and Yazidis." I guess Perkins doesn't know that in 2011, Obama condemned attacks against Christians in Iraq and Egypt. (Ssshhh, that doesn't fit the propaganda narrative!) As documented on Media Matters, the President has made a number of comments about the Christian situation.
If Fox News thinks it's "fair & balanced," it can keep on pretending!
