Fox News hosted contributor Allen West the day after he smeared President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder as “the most vile and disgusting racists,” airtime that West used to compare a Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyer to the Muslim Brotherhood.

In a January 14 post on his website, West condemned new federal guidelines aimed to prevent discriminatory disciplinary policies in schools as “racial preference policies” perpetuated by the Obama administration. In his post, West attributed self-proclaimed high school violence rates among black students to “the decimation of the black family,” and gave the following message to “white Americans” (emphasis added):

This is my clear and succinct message to white Americans. How long will it be before “you people” realize you have elevated someone to the office of president who abjectly despises you -- not to mention his henchman Holder. Combined they are the most vile and disgusting racists -- not you.

The next day, Fox News' On the Record gave West a platform to further attack the DOJ. During a discussion about reports that no criminal charges are expected to be filed in the IRS targeting case, West compared Barbara K. Bosserman, the DOJ attorney who is investigating the case, to the Muslim Brotherhood because she had donated money to President Obama's past campaigns, saying, “that's kind of like asking the Muslim Brotherhood to investigate Benghazi” :

Right-wing media were quick to hype Republican demands that Bosserman be removed from the investigation despite her extensive qualifications, because she had donated money to Obama and other Democratic groups through several election cycles. They either ignored or dismissed the DOJ's explanation that removing Bosserman over her political affiliation could violate the law.

West is not the first Fox News personality to label President Obama as a racist. On the July 28, 2009, edition of Fox & Friends, then-Fox News host Glenn Beck said that Obama “is, I believe, a racist,” with “a deep-seated hatred for white people.” That comment sparked a huge advertiser boycott of Beck's show on Fox, and nearly two years later, Beck left the network. According to Gabriel Sherman's biography of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, Ailes agreed with Beck, telling his executives the day after the comment aired, “I think he's right.”