Fox News has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons once again after a guest claiming to be a “Swedish defence and national security advisor” turned out to be no such thing.
Nils Bildt appeared on commentator Bill O’Reilly’s slot on the channel, later prompting Swedish officials to announce they have no idea who the man is.
The blunder is the latest in a long line from the network. Some, like Nigel Farage’s unexpected promotion were relatively harmless but others have had real life consequences.
What’s even more worrying is Donald Trump’s appears to base a lot of his announcements on what he sees on Fox News the night before.
Here’s a rundown of some of their most notorious blunders...
7) When Britain Voted To Leave The United Nations
Remember back in June when we voted to take back control from the oppressive United Nations?
No? Yeah, no one else does either.
6) When They Said Jeremy Corbyn Was A Russia-Loving Bearded Vegetarian Socialist Who Hates America
Well, they got at least three things right.
In a 2015 article, Luke Coffey, a former Thatcher acolyte, said a Corbyn leadership would be “so overtly anti-American that whoever steps into the White House, Republican or Democrat, would have to support the Conservative Party.”
5) When They Advised Schoolchildren To Take On Armed Gunmen
This man wants to save your child’s life in an active shooter situation.
... by getting them to tackle them with their bare hands.
The guest, a martial arts instructor, said: “Once you engage the gunman, you have to — you have to just take him out. You have to fight strong. So you’re not actually going to try and get away until you actually make sure that you’ve done some damage to him. Because if you don’t, then he’ll just pursue you.”
So if an adult gunman enters a school, a child should creep up behind him, grab the gun and kick him in the nuts. What could possibly go wrong? Perhaps better would be to heed the advice of the FBI, which recommends children should attempt to run or hide.
4) When They Said The Ocean Should Be Cleared Of Sharks
In July 2015 champion surfer Mick Fanning was attacked by a shark.
Thankfully he survived but that wasn’t enough to stop presenter Brian Kilmeade calling for some incredibly drastic action.
He said: “I think the most shocking thing is that after you hear about the six attacks in North Carolina, okay, these are just swimmers.
“But then when you see a champion surfer and you have a three camera shoot and an overhead shot, [you] say, ‘Oh my goodness, it could happen anywhere’.”
He continued: “You would think that they would have a way of clearing the waters for a competition of this level. But I guess they don’t.”
Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck chimed in, agreeing: “If a three-time world champion surfer isn’t safe, who is?”
She added: “The shark should be afraid of him.”
Quite.
3) When They Promoted Nigel Farage To Leader Of The Opposition
2016 was undoubtedly a rough year for Jeremy Corbyn but this must have been one of the lowest points.
Oof.
2) When They Said Climate Change Is The ‘Oldest Superstition Around’
In 2014 Fox News regular Charles Krauthammer disputed yet another report into the effects of climate change by comparing belief in the theory to belief in the power of gods to control the weather.
“It’s the oldest superstition around,” he said. “It was in the Old Testament, it’s in the rain dance of Native Americans: if you sin, the skies will not cooperate.”
Krauthammer said the consensus around the science of climate change was just as dubious as the consensus around other debunked theories.
“I’m not impressed by numbers,” he said.
And this was before #AlternativeFacts.
1) When they Declared Birmingham A Muslim-Only City
Are you a non-Muslim? Have you been to Birmingham recently? Well, you and thousands of others like you are lying according to an “expert” who appeared on Fox News in 2015.
Even by the American news channel’s standards they surpassed themselves by allowing an ‘expert’ to claim Birmingham is a Muslim-only city.
Steven Emerson said: “And in Britain, it’s not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don’t go in.”
This outright lie then spawned some of the greatest trolling in the history of social media.
Emerson, who is the Executive Director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, subsequently issued an apology, telling the Huffington Post:
I have clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry. My comments about Birmingham were totally in error.
And I am issuing an apology and correction on my website immediately for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham.
I do not intend to justify or mitigate my mistake by stating that I had relied on other sources because I should have been much more careful.
There was no excuse for making this mistake and I owe an apology to every resident of Birmingham.
I am not going to make any excuses. I made an inexcusable error. And I am obligated to openly acknowledge that mistake.
Steve
PS. I intend to make a donation to Birmingham Children’s Hospital