The former Republican congressman has no patience for the games Fox News is playing by focusing on freshman female politicos alleged anti-Semitism, while ignoring that they've been cheerleader for the biggest bigot of them all.
March 9, 2019

I'm not sure what Mika is slipping into Joe Scarborough's cornflakes of late, but I kind of like it.

Scarborough used to be a big player in these loaded games the GOP does to weaponize their own bigotry. You know how it goes: the GOP pretends outrage for some slight, some slip of the tongue, and then when you point out that they've said something just as bad (or worse), they sneer and call you a "snowflake" and proudly boast of being "politically incorrect."

And so it is with freshman congresswoman Ilhan Omar. When she (admittedly, poorly done) criticized AIPAC and Israel's influence on American politics (a totally legitimate area that we need a considered political discussion), she gave the right the weapon they needed to yell, "Anti-Semitism!" over and over. That she is a Muslim woman of color that they can smear is just an added bonus.

But as Joe Scarborough (who, again, KNOWS HOW THIS GAME IS PLAYED) points out, it completely ignores a long and storied history of rampant and unapologetic anti-Semitism by the right, from Donald Trump all the way down.

"The hypocrisy of Fox News, showing anything that Representative Omar is doing and not show Donald Trump, not showing Kevin McCarthy's tweet, which basically said, 'Jew money is trying to steal this election.' How about Jim Jordan putting a sign by a Jewish Democratic donor's name. In front of Tom Steyer; it's Tom with a dollar sign. Because the Republicans have been shameful, whether you're talking about bigotry towards Jews or Muslims or Hispanics. So Fox News is doing that. What a joke."

Like when Trump put out an ad with a clear anti-Semitic undercurrent to it. Or as John Amato wrote last month, Trump's hypocrisy on calling out anti-Semitism is unparalleled. Where was Fox News for that? Cheering him and normalizing his bigotry.

It's just unfortunate that the Democratic Party gets played like this over and over and constantly runs defense for such hypocritical gamesmanship.

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon