On Sunday’s Reliable Sources on CNN, Brian Stelter brought on leftist journalist Wesley Lowery to discuss what they describe as extremist content online and in media that inspired the shooter in Saturday’s mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store. Lowery proceeded to accuse Fox News hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, and Jewish conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro of parroting white supremacist talking points.
“There is a complex conspiracy theory that's as old as our American society in which white Americans are being told, being poisoned through the internet but also through some relatively mainstream media organizations on the right, being told that they are facing a demographic crisis and they have to stand up for themselves,” Lowery wailed.
Stelter jumped in and sought to clarify who he was referring to: “let's just be clear, Wes, you're talking about Tucker Carlson, you’re talking about Laura Ingraham, you’re talking about the biggest stars on Fox News.” He then asked if it’s ‘too simplistic to reduce this to a single television show though?”
Lowery agreed but proceeded to double down on his smears against conservative media, claiming “the stuff Tucker and Laura Ingraham say every night could be written by white supremacists very often.”
Lowery continued his outright lies against Carlson and Shaprio by claiming “there is a section of this manifesto where the shooter starts talking about people always say diversity is strength. How is it strength? I can hear it in Tucker's voice. He says this all the time, right? But the Ben Shapiros of the world say this.”
According to Lowery, Republican Presidents and politicians are responsible for spreading hatred over their focus on illegal immigration bemoaning how “it's something Republicans have seized upon” adding that “It's something that in our rhetoric and in our conversation very often mainstream political forces have been remarkably irresponsible in the language they’ve used around immigration and around race in ways that have fueled and empowered white supremacists.”
Proving just how absurd his arguments are, he even claimed conservatives pointing out George Soros’s detrimental effect on our politics is somehow spreading hatred “about Jewish people, about black people. The way George Soros' name is thrown around, the way people talk about immigrants & crime. All of these things play into racist, white supremacist tropes.”
So basically, his argument boils down to any conservative political attack on the Left spreads racial and religious hatred and inspires violence. This is the kind of commentary you can expect from Brian Stelter’s reliably liberal Reliable Sources.
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To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
CNN’s Reliable Sources
5/15/2022
11:05:02 a.m. EasternWESLEY LOWERY: There is a complex conspiracy theory that's as old as our American society in which white Americans are being told, being poisoned through the internet but also through some relatively mainstream media organizations on the right, being told that they are facing a demographic crisis and they have to stand up for themselves.
BRIAN STELTER: And let's just be clear, Wes, you're talking about Tucker Carlson, you’re talking about Laura Ingraham, you’re talking about the biggest stars on Fox News. Is it too simplistic to reduce this to a single television show though?
LOWERY: Yes!
STELTER: I’m seeing it a lot on social media, just blaming Fox, just blaming Tucker and I think there's a lot of blame to go around.
LOWERY: There's a ton. I mean look, let's be clear. The stuff Tucker and Laura Ingraham say every night could be written by white supremacists very often. There is a section of this manifesto where the shooter starts talking about people always say diversity is strength. How is it strength? I can hear it in Tucker's voice. He says this all the time, right? But the Ben Shapiros of the world say this, there’s a big chunk about the idea of genetic differences that could’ve been pulled from an Andrew Sullivan column.
There are plenty of people in our politics, in our media who advance these ideas and advance them frequently. But beyond that though, I do think the point we're making here is right, you cannot simplify this specifically just to a specific network or even specific online spaces. We have to have a conversation about our political rhetoric in our country.
Immigration for the last several decades has been the most salient topic in our politics. It's what Donald Trump rode into power. It's something Republicans have seized upon. It's something that in our rhetoric and in our conversation very often mainstream political forces have been remarkably irresponsible in the language they’ve used around immigration and around race in ways that have fueled and empowered white supremacists. Again, it’s not just people on the far right. We're talking on CNN where for years Lou Dobbs was given an hour every night to say some pretty racist things about immigrants at the heart of this conversation. And so I think it's something we have to take seriously because when we take it seriously, it forces us to actually consider the words we use, especially when we’re advancing stereotypes about immigrants, about Jewish people, about black people. The way George Soros' name is thrown around, the way people talk about immigrants & crime. All of these things play into racist, white supremacist tropes.
