CNN anchor Jake Tapper called Fox News “disgusting” and accused the network of lying in response to a now-deleted tweet that said Tapper called “Allahu Akbar” “beautiful.”
“.@CNN’s Jake Tapper Says ‘Allahu Akbar’ Is ‘Beautiful’ Right After NYC Terror Attack,” the @FoxNews handle tweeted on Wednesday.
Tapper quickly responded, clarifying what he actually said.
“Fox News is lying,” Tapper tweeted Wednesday afternoon. “I said it can be said at beautiful moments (wedding, birth) and too often at times like this (horrific terrorist attack).”
Indeed, The New York Times published an op-ed Wednesday by a Muslim American who discussed the cultural significance of “Allahu akbar,” describing it as celebratory: “The phrase is also a convenient way to express just the right kind of gratitude in any situation.”
Back to Tapper: He went on to explain that if people in the West don’t understand the thought process behind terrorist attacks, we cannot defeat it.
He continued to call out the network for consistently posting misleading headlines. “And yes, I know they [Fox News] does this all the time,” Tapper said. He called it “sick” that the network would twist his words in this way the day after an attack.
“.@FoxNews chooses instead to deliberately lie about what I said. Following the slime-coated path of @DailyCaller and @infowars. Disgusting,” his Twitter storm continued. “There was a time when one could tell the difference between Fox and the nutjobs at Infowars. It’s getting tougher and tougher. Lies are lies.”
See Tapper’s complete take down below:
Fox News is lying. I said it can be said at beautiful moments (wedding, birth) and too often at times like this (horrific terrorist attack). https://t.co/rQx3r0za6I
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 1, 2017
“Allahu Akbar” is a prayer; if we don’t understand how radical Islamic terrorists justify their evil using religion, West cannot defeat it
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 1, 2017
.@FoxNews chooses instead to deliberately lie about what I said. Following the slime-coated path of @DailyCaller and @infowars. Disgusting.
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 1, 2017
And yes, I know they do this all the time. Still, literally the day after this horrific attack that they would launch this smear — it’s sick
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 2, 2017
There was a time when one could tell the difference between Fox and the nutjobs at Infowars. It’s getting tougher and tougher. Lies are lies https://t.co/stYjntoJUq
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) November 2, 2017