Fox News' Paranoid Alternate Universe

Two-thirds of viewers who say Fox News is the news source they trust most believe discrimination against whites is as big a problem as discrimination against minority groups, according to a study released Tuesday by the Brookings Institution and the Public Religion Research Institute.

The financial crisis wiped out 20 years of minority wealth gains, and minority incarceration and unemployment rates are far higher than those of whites, but white Americans have nevertheless become more receptive to the idea that whites face as much discrimination as minorities.

Fox News is a crucial outlet for fomenting Shariah panic. According to the study, “There is a strong correlation between trusting Fox News and negative views of Islam and Muslims,” as “[n]early 6-in-10 Republicans who most trust Fox News believe that American Muslims are trying to establish Shari’a law in the U.S.,” and 72 percent of “Fox News Republicans” agree that Islam is “at odds with American values.” If you’re a Republican, you’re more likely to think that white people are as discriminated against as minorities and that American Muslims represent a fifth column trying to subvert the Constitution. But if you’re a Republican who watches Fox News, then you’re far more likely to believe those things, thanks to a steady media diet of racial resentment and Muslim-baiting paranoia.