Larry Wilmore: Black Lives Matter turned into phony war on cops by 'magic' -- 'the magician? Fox News'

Larry Wilmore took aim Tuesday night at the "war on police" narrative promoted by Fox News to discredit the Black Lives Matter Movement.

"Oh, Fox News -- promoting fake wars since 2003," he said.

The "Nightly Show" host reported that 58 percent of Americans believe there is a war on police -- and Wilmore is concerned about that possibility himself because he has law enforcement officers in his family.

But then he learned that 2015 is on pace to be one of the safest years for law enforcement in decades, and the rate of officer deaths in the line of duty has been steadily declining since the mid-1970s.

"Wait a minute, that doesn't make sense," Wilmore said. "Overall, attacks on police are way down, yet the perception of the American people is that attacks on police are way up."

"You may be wondering how that happens," he continued. "The answer? Magic. And the magician? Fox News."

Wilmore, an accomplished magician himself, explained how Fox News promotes false narratives by first stating a "bullsh*t premise," and then by giving the topic the conservative news network's highest honor: "official war status."

"Damn, Fox is going all-in on this war premise," Wilmore said, after watching a litany of anchors and guests promoting the narrative. "I haven't seen Fox News this excited since the invention of 'blonde.'"

Wilmore explained that Fox News, having "hooked" their audience with the alarming claims, brought in so-called experts to blame civil rights protesters for the bogus increase in police killings.

"In case you missed the trick, they just blamed Black Lives Matter for the 'war on cops' that doesn't actually exist," Wilmore said. "Now that Fox has established that Black Lives Matter is to blame for the fake 'war on cops,' that's the reality -- we don't question it."

The network next used video showing protesters at one demonstration chanting "pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon" to support its claims, and Wilmore pointed out that Fox News repeatedly reported the isolated incident to overstate its relevance.

"I'm not a spokesperson for the Black Lives Matter movement, but I'm pretty sure their agenda is for police to stop killing unarmed black people," Wilmore said. "The fact that we even need that movement is insane. The fact that you're trying to presto-change it into a war on cops is even more insane."

"Once the magic trick has been done, and reality seems a little different, right-wing politicians can now make points like this," Wilmore said, showing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker blaming President Barack Obama for personally directing the killings of police officers.

"Obama?" Wilmore said. "You're really blaming this on Obama? You have to be f*cking kidding me!"

"I have to tell you guys this, as someone who loves the art of illusion, I despise Fox's agenda -- but I so admire their craft," he added.

Watch the entire segment posted online by Comedy Central: