Steve Emerson, the Fox News contributor who has been widely mocked for claiming non-Muslims are too afraid to go to Birmingham, has been dismissed a "complete idiot" by the prime minister.
David Cameron has said that when he heard what Emerson had said he "choked on my porridge". Emerson has apologised for his comments and said he was "deeply sorry".
The prime minister told ITV News on Monday: "I thought it must be April Fools Day. This guy's clearly a complete idiot. Now, he's started with an apology, that's not a bad start, what he should do is look at Birmingham and see what a fantastic example it is of bringing people together of different faiths, different backgrounds and actually building a world class brilliant city with a great and strong economy."
Emerson told Fox News over the weekend that there were areas of Europe where governments were not in-charge of Muslim dominated areas.
"In Britain, it's not just no-go zones, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don't go in," he said.
"And parts of London, there are actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and actually wound seriously anyone who doesn't dress according to Muslim, religious Muslim attire."
The vast majority of people living in Birmingham consider themselves to be Christian. According to most recent census data from 2011, the city of more than one million residents has a Muslim population of about 234,000 (21.8%).
Emerson later issued an apology after he became the subject of mockery on Twitter, with the hashtag #FoxNewsFacts used to poke fun at the channel.
"I have clearly made a terrible error for which I am deeply sorry. My comments about Birmingham were totally in error. And I am issuing an apology and correction on my website immediately for having made this comment about the beautiful city of Birmingham.
I do not intend to justify or mitigate my mistake by stating that I had relied on other sources because I should have been much more careful. There was no excuse for making this mistake and I owe an apology to every resident of Birmingham. I am not going to make any excuses. I made an inexcusable error. And I am obligated to openly acknowledge that mistake.
"Steve
"PS. I intend to make a donation to Birmingham Children's Hospital"