Journalists within our broadcast networks are sensitive to any criticism of radical Islam, fueled by their aversion to conservatives. The term “Islamophobia” is on their lips whenever anyone remembers anything from 9/11 to people singing “Death to America.” When a violent or potential event occurs, they hope the attacker is not Muslim, as happened after an attempted terror attack this week.
When Muslim military medic Nidal Hasan shot up Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 people, Newsweek’s Evan Thomas declared at the Newsweek roundtable: “It makes me cringe that he’s a Muslim. I mean, because it fuels all the fears. I think he’s probably just a weirdo. But with that label stuck on him, it will get the right wing going.” NPR’s Nina Totenberg agreed: “It’s really tragic that he was a Muslim.”
That reflex certainly applied to the March 7 protests outside Gracie Mansion, where New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani lives. Two Muslim teenagers showed up to an anti-Islam protest with homemade bombs, and the broadcast networks were extremely reluctant to describe them with the “M-word.”
On Saturday’s World News Tonight on ABC, host Linsey Davis was brief, describing “two people who were arrested after a suspicious device went off during an anti-Muslim protest here in New York.” The protests outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence, prompted counter-protesters to show up as well. Two were arrested for allegedly throwing a smoke bomb. No injuries have been reported.” Thrown by whom? The anchor did not specify it. And it certainly turned out not to be a ‘smoke bomb’. It was a potential mass casualty event.
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CNN host Abby Phillip speaks during her show ‘Newsnight’ on March 10, 2026. (CNN/Newsnight)
On Sunday morning, ABC’s “Good Morning America” was even vaguer, with Gio Benitez reporting, “The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is now investigating suspected devices thrown at a protest as possible acts of terrorism.” Here again it is a maddeningly passive formulation of ‘devices thrown’. Thrown by whom?
Later in the show, ABC’s Janai Norman said: ‘Police say two suspicious devices have been found. Jars filled with nuts, bolts and screws and a hobby fuse. They say a protest of about 20 people was organized by far-right, anti-immigrant figure Jake Lang. About 125 people were part of the counter-protest.”
So one side is ‘far right’ and ‘anti-immigrant’, and the other side cannot be identified with any ideological or religious beliefs. That report was so vague you’d think the Lang group dropped the bombs.
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In any case, NBC Sunday Today host Willie Geist seemed to have the correct targeting: the “firebombs” had been thrown “at a small group of anti-Islam protesters led by a right-wing influencer.”
On Sunday night’s CBS Evening News’, host Jericka Duncan skirted around it again: ‘Tonight, the FBI is investigating two men after an explosive device containing bolts and screws was thrown into a crowd. It happened Saturday in New York City during a protest that turned violent outside the mayor’s official residence.” Who made it violent?
CBS reporter Shanelle Kaul identified Mamdani as a Muslim, but not the attackers. It was just “two men,” she repeated. Viewers might get a clue when the teens were identified as Emir Balat and Ibrahim Kayumi, but Kaul blamed the incident on the “anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake Lang… a Capitol insurrectionist who has been pardoned and who has frequently sought political confrontation in the months after President Trump granted him clemency.” Lang served four years in prison after wielding a baseball bat on Jan. 6.
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On Monday morning, ABC’s Aaron Katersky again tapped right-wing extremists. The bombs were thrown “during the chaotic, dueling protests started by far-right provocateur Jake Lang under the banner “Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City,” which Mamdani denounced as “rooted in bigotry and racism.”
On Monday’s Today program on NBC, reporter Sam Brock said that “both men reportedly made pro-ISIS statements during their arrest,” but Brock linked the crowd to WABC’s “polarizing talk show host” Sid Rosenberg for calling Mamdani “a jihadist” before later apologizing. So it is not ‘polarizing’ or ‘intolerant’ to favor ISIS and want Jews dead?
So one side is ‘far right’ and ‘anti-immigrant’, and the other side cannot be identified with any ideological or religious beliefs.
Things didn’t get better as the story unfolded. CNN had to issue a ridiculously flowery tweet on Monday about the bomb plotters, saying that “two teenagers from Pennsylvania” could have come to New York “for a normal day, enjoying the city’s abnormally warm weather.” This caused a wave of satires.
On Tuesday evening, CNN primetime anchor Abby Phillip – followed minutes later by commentator Ana Navarro – incorrectly suggested that the target of the bombs was Mayor Mamdani. CNN reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere also falsely tweeted that Mamdani was a target. So much for “Facts First” CNN.
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On Wednesday night, Phillip offered a rare on-air correction. On Wednesday’s “CBS Evening News,” host Tony Dokoupil told a story about “two heroic New York City police officers who were just steps away from a smoking improvised bomb on Saturday, an attempted terrorist attack, according to the FBI.” Jericka Duncan told the story of Aaron Edwards and Luis Navarro who jumped into the breach to prevent a deadly bomb explosion.
Ibrahim Kayumi, right, pictured handing an object to Emir Balat, left. Both men were arrested on March 7 after allegedly trying to bomb a protest in New York City and pledging allegiance to the terrorist group ISIS. (Public Affairs Office of the Ministry of Justice)
Duncan explained, “Chief Edwards says the path to this moment started with the September 11 attacks.” Edwards said, “I just saw police and first responders rushing to save people, and that inspired me to take the test.” But even in this story in honor of police officers, the Islamic radicalism angle only lingered in the background. The ‘M-Word’ did not arise.
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These cringing journalists have long assumed that Americans (and especially conservatives) are not smart enough to think with nuance, that there are many innocent Muslim Americans who have no motivation for or connection to terrorism. Therefore, they should skip disturbing facts.
This bias by omission extends to Mayor Mamdani’s account of extremist sentiments about Israel, and recent reports that Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji “liked” social media posts celebrating the massacre of innocent civilians by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The broadcast networks skipped that and endorsed the mayor’s view that she is a “private person.” These two are somehow not ‘far-left’, ‘bigoted’ or extremist.
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