Fox News host Martha MacCallum confronted White House press secretary Josh Earnest over his comments Monday morning indicating he believed the battle against ISIS was primarily “just a war of narratives.”

“You mentioned earlier today you believe it’s a ‘narrative battle’ that we’re fighting,” MacCallum recounted. “I think that for people who have shrapnel in their shoulders this morning, they might have a hard time accepting that, that it is a narrative battle that we’re fighting against ISIS. Explain what you meant by that.”

“I meant very specifically, Martha, that we’re taking fight to them on the ground in Iraq and Syria. And the president has organized an international coalition, more 5000 airstrikes that we’ve taken against ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria over the last couple years,” Earnest responded.

He continued: “What is important in the context of political debate is to remember ISIL is trying to assert a narrative, that they represent the religion of Islam in a war against the West and in a war against the United States. That is mythology, that is falsehood, that is not true.”

“To suggest that somehow we should treat Muslims differently or suspect them as terrorists just because of their religion is something we shouldn’t do” Earnest said.

“Nobody is talking about that,” MacCallum said incredulously.

“We certainly have heard that kind of inflammatory rhetoric from Republicans,” Earnest said. “This is the context in which I was asked the question about the ISIL narrative earlier today. It is important we don’t play into the narrative, and that is what too many Republicans are willing to do that.”

Watch above, via Fox News.

[Image via screengrab]

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