Fox News host Shepard Smith immediately shut down a controversial right-wing French caller’s conspiracy theory suggesting that the Notre Dame Cathedral fire may have been intentionally…
Fox News host Shepard Smith immediately shut down a controversial right-wing French caller’s conspiracy theory suggesting that the Notre Dame Cathedral fire may have been intentionally set.
Smith offered a concise and immediate rebuke during live on-air coverage of the Paris cathedral’s burning after Philippe Karsenty, a former right-wing political candidate, floated the idea Notre Dame was set ablaze by potential terrorists. Karsenty was previously sued for libel after he accused the France 2 network of staging the killing of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, Muhammad al-Durrah, in 2004.
Smith labeled conspiracy theorists and similar unfounded claims “counterproductive and injurious to society.”
French and Israeli media reports have described Karsenty as a “right-wing extremist” tied to far-right Jewish groups over the Palestinian hoax controversy and the ensuing legal battle. Conspiracy theories claming the fire was “deliberate” began popping up on American right-wing media outlets, including Infowars, within minutes of reports of the Notre Dame fire.
“I was close to the scene when it happened, but I left because I wanted people to work,” Karsenty began.
