Jeanine Pirro apologized for guest Steve Emerson’s ridiculous claim that Birmingham, England is "totally Muslim" and for her own failure in not challenging him. But Pirro never explained why she failed to challenge Emerson nor why it took her so long to admit the error.
To give credit where it’s due, I’d say that Pirro gave a proper, unequivocal apology. Unlike Fox’s Julie Banderas, who earlier tonight apologized for even more of Fox’s errors about Muslims, Pirro did not go on to suggest that Muslim areas should be avoided even if Fox was wrong to say they have to be.
Here’s what Pirro said tonight:
Last week on this program, a guest made a serious factual error that we wrongly let stand unchallenged and uncorrected. The guest asserted that the city of Birmingham, England, is totally Muslim and that it is a place where non-Muslims don’t go. Both are incorrect.
The most recent census data, which is from 2011, indicates 22% of the population of Birmingham identify themselves as Muslim. Also, we could find no credible source indicates Birmingham is a so-called no-go zone. We deeply regret these errors and apologize to the people of Birmingham, our viewers and all who’ve been offended.
Pirro could have made this correction and apology last Sunday, the night after she aired the interview with Emerson. The online ridicule was already viral by then. But let’s think more about why Pirro did not challenge Emerson in the first place. It’s not like Pirro didn’t have reason to suspect Emerson’s credibility. In 1999, FAIR published quite a catalog of his previous “factual errors.” Just a few nights before coming on Pirro’s show, Emerson announced on Hannity that “Europe is finished” because there are so many Muslims there. In her own discussion with him, Pirro expressed admiration for that remark. So the only possible explanation for having given Emerson a pass is that Pirro thought he was a credible expert or she knew that Fox did. And I’m sorry, Jeanine, but there was no excuse for that.
Watch Pirro’s apology below, from tonight’s Justice with Judge Jeanine. Underneath, I’m also posting her interview with Emerson.
“The most recent census data, which is from 2011, . . . .” (emphasis mine).
I don’t know. Maybe I should give Pirro the benefit of the doubt but this could be taken as a way of implying “Birmingham could now very well be a Muslim majority city but no one knows for certain.”
When looking at Birmingham’s Muslim population growth between 2001 and 2011, that certainly could be a possibility though not very likely—the city’s Muslim population would have to have had a massive population increase at the expense of other groups (on the lines of doubling in just the past few years). The Muslim population increased by 67% in the city while the overall population increased by just under 10%; the “No religion” increased by 70%, the “Religion not stated” decreased by 14%.
Steve Emerson made a fool of himself. All media outlets worldwide should avoid this clown at all cost.
NOTE TO PIRRO
You call yourself a “judge”? Case dismissed.
