President Trump and Elizabeth Warren blame the news media for the El Paso, Texas, massacre. But members of the press are angry about only one of the attacks on their industry.
A suspect opened fire Saturday in a crowded Walmart, killing 21. Not long after the attack, a left-wing activist claimed Fox News inspired the attack.
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“Let’s all be really clear on this: The shooting in El Paso was a terrorist attack targeting Latinx people,” tweeted Indivisible Guide’s Leah Greenberg. “It was spurred by the same white nationalist ideology that is promoted by the President of the United States and mainstreamed by Fox News.”
Warren was eager to amplify this claim.
“We need to call it out: Fox News is a hate-for-profit machine that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists,” said the senator, sharing Greenberg’s tweet. The 2020 Democratic candidate made her position clear: Fox bears some blame for El Paso.
We need to call it out: Fox News is a hate-for-profit machine that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists. https://t.co/f1QkIE7sbB
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 4, 2019
Later, Trump did the same thing, except he chose to blame the “fake news” media.
“The Media has a big responsibility to life and safety in our Country. Fake News has contributed greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years,” the president tweeted. “News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and unbiased, or these terrible problems will only get worse!”
The Media has a big responsibility to life and safety in our Country. Fake News has contributed greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years. News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and unbiased, or these terrible problems will only get worse!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2019
There is little daylight between what Trump and Warren said. They both responded by blaming newsrooms for the shooting. The only difference is the target of their ire. Yet reporters see a problem with only the president’s response. They say he is endangering members of the press.
“This one is scarier than others,” said Reuters’ Rodrigo Campos.
Mother Jones‘ Patrick Caldwell said, “Trump’s ‘Enemy of the People’ Rhetoric Is Endangering Journalists’ Lives.”
“OMG. Is he setting up more violence?” asked Washington Post and Politico alum Lois Romano.
Playboy magazine White House correspondent Brian Karem said, “None of the many threats to me, my wife or children have come from the media – they have come from those who say they are loyal to you Mr. President.”
“Not content with drawing a target on the backs of Latinos and immigrants, Donald Trump again places the media in the crosshairs of his conspiracy theories. I fear that it won’t be long before a far-right fanatic mows down journalists in a hail of bullets,” added freelance journalist Khaled Diab.
Former Breitbart News spokesman Kurt Bardella leaned hard into his gig as an MSNBC guest, saying, “[Trump] is still stoking dangerous attacks on the free press. He blames the press for doing it’s job – reporting the facts – while ignoring the role he has played in inspiring violence.”
And so on and so on and so on.
Not one of these reporters or commentators has voiced similar concern for Warren. The Massachusetts senator is a top-tier 2020 Democratic primary candidate. She blamed a news organization for a mass shooting. And the people beating their chests over Trump’s response cannot find it in them to say a word about Warren.
Curious.
Why, if I did not know better, I would say attacks on the free press is not what bothers these people. It is that they dislike it when certain people do it, and when the “wrong” newsrooms catch flack. All attacks on the free press are equal, but some are more equal than others.
