Religious scholar Reza Aslan spoke with Chris Hayes about the cringe-worthy Fox News interview on his faith and credentials that’s gone viral and rocketed his new book to the top of the Amazon.com bestsellers list Tuesday on All In.
Fox News Religion Correspondent Lauren Green repeatedly asked Aslan, who is a Muslim, about his ability to write an unbiased biography of Jesus. The line of questioning struck many viewers as ignorant and xenophobic. However, Aslan told Hayes he actually credits the interview with sparking an important national conversation.
“I think at this point what’s really fascinating to me just from, you know, an academic perspective is this is no longer even about me,” said Aslan, “It’s not about Fox News. This has become a much-needed larger discussion in the country about media, and journalism, and scholarship, and faith, and the role of religion in society.”
Aslan also weighed in on the Islamophobic rumors perpetuated by Fox News about Huma Abedin’s connections to the Muslim Brotherhood. A New York TImes op-ed also characterized Abedin as an oppressed Muslim woman based on her upbringing in conservative Saudi Arabia.
“If Huma has this secret Muslim agenda, it’s not going so well,” he said. “I mean, I like Hillary Clinton a lot but she is no friend to the Palestinians. Her husband, Anthony Weiner, his views about the Palestinians are despicable. This is a man who has said there is no such thing as an occupation of the West Bank.” Watch the video above for Chris Hayes’ full conversation with Reza Aslan.
Rachel Simon
Rachel Simon is a writer and editor based in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is the author of “Pickleball for All: Everything but the ‘Kitchen’ Sink.” Her work has been published in The New York Times, Glamour, Vulture, Teen Vogue and more. You can find her at @rsimon113. Recommended
