Fox News apologized four times on-air Saturday for a factual error made last week by guest and "terrorism analyst" Steven Emerson, who claimed that many European cities have "no-go zones" where non-Muslims don't dare venture.
The claim sparked widespread outrage. Twitter users began using the sarcastic hashtag #FoxNewsFacts to make fun of the network, while United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron called Emerson a "complete idiot" for his assertion that Birmingham, England, is a city dominated by Muslims and that "non-Muslims just simply don't go in."
“There is no formal designation of these zones in [France or the United Kingdom] and no credible information to support the assertion there are specific areas in these countries that exclude individuals based solely on their religion," Fox Report anchor Julie Banderas said in one of the apologies on Saturday (watch the video, below).
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Jeanine Pirro, host of Fox News program Justice with Judge Jeanine also apologized for allowing Emerson's baseless claim to go unchallenged on her show.
"A guest made a serious factual error that we wrongly let stand unchallenged and uncorrected," Pirro said on Saturday.
Emerson, who is the founder of a non-profit research group called the Investigative Project on Terrorism, also apologized on Twitter on Jan. 11.
My comments on FoxNews about Birmingham were totally inaccurate. Birmingham, please accept my apology; I was wrong. Steve Emerson— InvestigativeProject (@TheIPT) January 12, 2015