Fox News' right-wing pundit Sean Hannity made a major slip up while discussing Obama’s refugee policy with Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush last week.
While asking about Bush' policy, Hannity said Obama wants to allow 250,000 refugees into the US. The number is a pretty huge divergence from official sources. So where did he get it, you ask?
Hannity's figure did show up on some websites, but they weren't exactly Reuters and the Associated Press.
Real News Right Now, for example, posted a piece last week titled, “U.S. to House 250,000 Syrian Refugees at Navajo, Standing Rock Indian Reservations."
In case anyone besides maybe Hannity is unclear, the site is drippingly satirical—another article says Starbucks plans to open five stores in Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp. Is it really possible that Hannity didn’t pick up on that?
Maybe. But it's probably more likely he got the figure from right-wing news outlet Breitbart, which in September published an article entitled: “Federal Data: U.S. Annually Admits Quarter of a Million Muslim Migrants." That number's pretty dodgy in its own right, but Hannity still got it wrong.
Breitbart's piece actually doesn't say anything about Obama wanting to bring in 250,000 refugees. Instead It adds up the number of migrants to the US from Muslim-majority countries in 2013 and even includes those only allowed to stay temporarily to study and work.
To sum up: Hannity either believed a satirical news site which last week ran with the headline, “Syria Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage," or he thinks that every legal migrant from a Muslim-majority country in 2013 is somehow a refugee in 2015.
By Kane Hippisley-Gatherum
