Megyn Kelly and Brian Kilmeade dishonestly fear mongered that a group of New Jersey parents, who were angry that a school board decided not to close schools for a Muslim holiday, might be terrorists.
In Jersey City, New Jersey, a school board meeting got heated before a vote not to close the schools for the important Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha.
In not one but two teases for the discussion about the subject, Kelly said, “Also tonight, a school district refuses a request to close for the Muslim holiday(s) and wait until you hear the threat that followed!” As she spoke, a still video frame of an angry-looking Muslim woman appeared on screen.
It turned out there was no threat.
Kelly began the actual segment with a clip from WNBC about the controversy. It included footage of angry (Muslim) parents saying, “It’s real discrimination,” “My child should be able to celebrate their holiday,” and, probably most ominous to Fox viewers, “Were no longer the minority, that’s clear from tonight. We’re gonna be the majority soon.”
When the clip ended, Kelly acknowledged, “So it wasn’t a threat. It was - they were basically saying, ‘We are the majority now and you need to listen to us’ because they wanted the Muslim holiday off but six days in advance of the actual holiday.”
So did Kelly know when she did the two segment teases, saying, "Wait until you hear the threat that followed,” that there was no threat?
Kilmeade blamed the parents’ anger on New York City’s decision to close schools for Muslim holidays. “Emotions were running extremely high. This is basically because some people, like New York City, have decided this year to start recognizing this Muslim holiday.”
Both Kilmeade and Kelly seemed to support the idea of allowing children to take off for a religious holiday without being penalized but without having a school closure.
But before moving on, Kilmeade made a point of taking some gratuitous swipes at Muslims. First, he said, they are “not the majority” in Jersey City. And then he suggested that the Muslim families are somehow connected to 9/11.
KILMEADE: “There’s a little bit of bitterness, too, because it’s no secret that you know two of the [9/11] hijackers are also from Jersey City. So that’s an area a little ripe with tension.”
Excuse me, what does parents wanting their kids to have a Muslim holiday off have to do with 9/11?
Kelly pushed back: “Well, but I mean there’s no one suggesting that these Muslims are anything other than peace-loving people.”
Well, no one other than Kelly and Kilmeade, the only two people taking part in this discussion.
Watch it below, from the September 24 The Kelly File.
As a Jewish person living in a very Christian community, I’m used to getting Good Friday off but not Passover, Christmas Eve but not New Year’s Eve, etc.
I’m sympathetic to the parents’ desires but I’d need to know more about the ethnic make up of the school district before opining on whether Muslim holidays should be recognized. But as I understand it, the school is open to closing next year for Muslim holidays, there just wasn’t enough time to make arrangements this year.
Hell, they raise a fucking fuss about it every damn year when schools choose to have “Winter Holidays” or “Winter Festivals”instead of “Christmas” and minimize the number of religious-themed songs during these festivals, opting to focus on the more secular music. And this happens with schools that are, you know, actually CLOSED on Christmas Day.