Buried at the end of his Friday column, The Washington Post’s David Ignatius revealed that writings he obtained showed al-Qaida was not a fan of the Fox News Channel:
Bin Laden and his aides hoped for big terrorist operations to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. They also had elaborate media plans. Adam Gadahn, a U.S.-born media adviser, even discussed in a message to his boss what would be the best television outlets for a bin Laden anniversary video. “It should be sent for example to ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN and maybe PBS and VOA. As for Fox News let her die in her anger,” Gadahn wrote. At another point, he said of the networks: “From a professional point of view, they are all on one level — except [Fox News] channel, which falls into the abyss as you know, and lacks objectivity, too.” What an unintended boost for Fox, which can now boast that it is al-Qaida’s least favorite network.
“Red Eye” host Greg Gutfeld picked up on that portion of Ignatius’ column on his program, which is taped on Friday nights.
“Did America’s most wanted hate America’s most watched?” Gutfeld asked. “Well, bin Laden and crew had strong views about cable news. In particular, they hated Fox News. Yeah, the Washington Post, an actual paper, reports that the terrorist turd hoped for a big splash on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.”
Gutfeld’s take on the revelation: Al-Qaida sounds a lot like Media Matters, a group that has shown it is willing to go out of its way to marginalize the Fox News Channel.
“Sounds like that was written by Media Matters,” Gutfeld said. “It is so heartening to say they had feelings that were hurt by Fox News,” Gutfeld added. “It’s like they really didn’t like what we did.”
Gutfeld later suggested that the ill will some on the left have toward Fox News could be an indicator they’re on the wrong side. “It is weird,” he said.
“Some of the things they said about Fox News [are] also said by the left. The left has to think maybe we are on the wrong side.” Anna Kooiman, a Fox News correspondent, ascribed al-Qaida’s disdain for FNC to other networks’ extreme sensitivity towards Muslims.
“So, we’re looking over our shoulders for Media Matters on our way home from work, and now we are looking for al-Qaida, apparently, too,” Kooiman said. “Yikes, it freaked me out. And the other thing, too, you think about the left-wing media and how they have been so sensitive to Muslims. In a lot of ways that is great. We want to open our arms to everybody and be sensitive to other cultures. At the same time, when you hear Osama bin Laden in this article. … It makes you understand why everything is going on with searches and seizures at the airport.”