MRC’s Brent Bozell Blasts Media Derision of Prayer

December 3rd, 2015 12:03 PM

MRC President Brent Bozell on Thursday slammed the media’s mocking of religious Americans who offered prayers in the wake of the shooting in California. Responding to a New York Daily News cover saying, “God Isn’t Fixing This,” Bozell attacked, “If you don't want to believe in God, you don't want to believe in God. But what the New York Daily News did here was take it far further than that and ridicule people of faith for offering simple prayers.” 

Regarding initial comments by journalists wondering if there was a Planned Parenthood near the site of the San Bernardino shooting, Bozell concluded, “They look for right-wing violence. That is their default position.” 

Singling out The Daily News, the MRC President asserted: 

BRENT BOZELL: this may rattle some people. But it is precisely this kind of behavior that is fueling the terrorism against America. It is not deliberate by any stretch of the imagination, but they see America as the Great Satan, as godless. And here is the New York Daily News insulting people of faith. This only gives them more impetus to come after us. 

A transcript of the December 3 segment, which aired at 11:18am ET, is below: 

STUART VARNEY: Front cover Daily News today. “God isn’t fixing this.” That’s the mainstream media. That is what they are saying about Republican candidates who offer their prayers. Now let’s bring in Brent Bozell. What do you make of all of this? 

BOZELL: It is stunning. It’s stunning. Look, if you go back, I remember seeing studies, surveys going back to 1982 that showed that 50 percent of the news media did not believe in God and 86 percent seldom or never went to church or synagogue. And you can only surmise that it’s gotten far worse since then. Okay. If you don't want to believe in God, you don't want to believe in God. But what the New York Daily News did here was take it far further than that and ridicule people of faith for offering simple prayers. And what got me was when I heard this, I thought, “My goodness. Everyone is going to say you’re out of line.” But now I turn and I look at NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, they are all praising it. They’re all bringing it up as something that was deserving and needed to be said. Because, why? Because we need gun control. We don’t need prayers. 

VARNEY: By the way, Loretta Lynch, Attorney General, President Obama, just moments ago, both of them offered thoughts and prayers. Precisely the same language as Republican candidates.  

BOZELL: For the love of God! Oops.  I probably shouldn’t have said that. Where’s the controversy in this? You know, Robin Roberts of ABC did the same thing. She offered prayers. Where’s the controversy in this? And I’ll tell you something else. And this may rattle some people. But it is precisely this kind of behavior that is fueling the terrorism against America. It is not deliberate by any stretch of the imagination, but they see America as the Great Satan, as godless. And here is the New York Daily News insulting people of faith. This only gives them more impetus to come after us. 

VARNEY: How about this? All morning, we have seen politicians dancing around the issue of whether it is a terror attack, a Muslim terror attack, an Islamic terror attack or work place violence and I think people are sick and tired of this. Dancing around this political correctness. And I think this explains the popularity, to some degree, of Donald Trump. He just comes right out and says it. And that’s what a lot of people think. 

BOZELL: Oh, yeah. I was listening to you and Bret Baier. And you both right on the head when you said that America is way beyond the President in this conversation. And what Bret Baier said, that he is so, so timid about linking terrorism to terrorism. But he has no problem whatsoever Immediately linking this to gun control. And he does it immediately. And what you see unfortunately in our President, is not a commander in chief. You see a community organizer. And, you know, this is unfortunate because if ever America needed a commander and chief, it’s at this very moment. This is not a terrorist attack, folks. This is an act of war. We are at war with these people. 

VARNEY: One more really fast point. I was watching and flipping channels all afternoon. See what the coverage was like. What struck me was several commentators immediately look for the presence of a Planned Parenthood office in the neighborhood. As if they could slough it — “Oh, that is the problem here.” That was my last point. Wrap it up. 

BOZELL: They look for right-wing violence. That is their default position and if they can’t get that, “okay, then it’s the war on terror.” 

VARNEY: Brent Bozell, always good. Thank you very much, sir. We appreciate it.