The Fox News show Justice With Jeanine Pirro was pulled from programming Saturday evening, one week after Pirro's controversial comments about Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Instead, a rerun of the documentary Scandalous took Pirro's Saturday night slot. Pirro drew attention while delivering her opening statement during the show's March 9 episode, implying that Omar wearing a hijab could be linked to sharia law.
"Omar wears a hijab, which according to the Quran 33:59, tells women to cover so they won't get molested," Pirro said. "Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?"
In the days since she made the statement, Pirro was condemned by Fox News and dropped by advertisers, according to Variety. Personal-finance marketer NerdWallet, pharmaceutical advertiser Novo Nordis and online marketplace Letgo have indicated they will stop running ads in Pirro's program, Variety reported.
"We strongly condemn Judge Jeanine Pirro's comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar," a statement provided by Fox to Mediaite read. "They do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly."
Omar tweeted at Fox News, thanking them for their condemnation of Pirro's remarks.
Thank you, @FoxNews. No one’s commitment to our constitution should be questioned because of their faith or country of birth. https://t.co/haqm7NWRw0
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) March 11, 2019
"Thank you, @FoxNews. No one's commitment to our constitution should be questioned because of their faith or country of birth," she wrote.
Omar, an immigrant from Somalia, has stirred public outrage over her tweets criticizing U.S. support of Israel, which have been interpreted as anti-Semitic, the LA Times reported.
According to the LA Times, Pirro's show is the "most watched cable news program" on Saturday night.
The decision to pull Justice With Jeanine Pirro—at least for one night—comes on the heels of other controversies with two of its nightly prime-time programs, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" and "The Ingraham Angle."
Pirro also responded to the controversy, saying her intention was not to call Omar "un-American."
"My intention was to ask a question and start a debate, but of course because one is Muslim does not mean you don't support the Constitution," Pirro said in a public statement. "I invite Rep. Omar to come on my show any time to discuss all of the important issues facing America today."
Via email, a representative for Fox News told Newsweek, "We're not commenting on internal scheduling matters."
(Story has been updated to include comment from Fox News representative.)
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