Let’s be real. Breitbart, the online publication, has lost a lot of legitimacy since Andrew Breitbart passed away. When he declared it as “the platform for the alt-right,” former Executive Chairman Steve Bannon took the brand to a new stratosphere by really owning the populist, nationalist angle.
Back when Andrew Breitbart was still alive, he helped propel the Anthony Weiner sexting scandal and ACORN undercover videos into the national spotlight. Now, his publication has descended to posting articles laced with bigotry to get clicks.
Take this now-deleted tweet about the Super Bowl for instance that highlights the publication’s subtle, yet rampant Islamophobia.
Breitbart sending, then deleting their crazy Muslim football tweet is latest sign that the site is going off the rails with Bannon gone pic.twitter.com/kvSAp3CGBU
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) February 5, 2018
Note how the story itself has actually nothing to do with Islam. It’s all about the Super Bowl’s declining viewership because of players protesting during the national anthem. The caption is hyperfocused on an America in which Islam takes over and ends football for good.
It would be one thing if they saw the end of football as a bad thing, but Breitbart has been actively rooting for the NFL’s failure. They’re more concerned that Muslims will eventually take over the country and end football forever, not realizing that the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that almost reached Super Bowl LII, is owned by a Pakistani-born Muslim, Shahid Khan.
Breitbart said they deleted the tweet because it didn’t meet its editorial standards. What editorial standards?
This is the same publication that allowed Milo Yiannopoulos to air his disdain for Islam unfiltered, going so far as to blame the entire religion for the acts of terrorist groups like the Islamic State and al Qaeda. It’s the same publication that employed Katie McHugh, the writer who was fired for tweeting after the London terror attack in June 2017, “There would be no deadly terror attacks in the U.K. if Muslims didn’t live there.”
But Breitbart gets some credit, though, they do employ a Muslim, or rather an ex-Muslim, in Raheem Kassam, the editor-in-chief of Breitbart London who lives in Washington D.C. Judging from his rhetoric, he seems to have given in and has become just as petrified as the rest of the Breitbart staff with respect to Muslims taking over the West and imposing Shariah law on everyone. He wrote a book about so-called “no-go zones,” even though they’ve been disputed and largely debunked with respect to the Netherlands. Either way, Breitbart has exploited Kassam’s religious upbringing to give off the impression that what they’re writing about is legitimate and cannot be questioned.
Breitbart doesn’t have to make everything about Islam, yet, it continues to. There’s nothing wrong with pointing out inconsistencies on the other side of the aisle, or exposing falsehoods no matter where you find it (yes, even within the Muslim community), but Breitbart just takes its obsession to an exaggerated degree.
It’s time to find something new to write about, Breitbart. Your takes on Islam aren’t even offensive anymore, they’re just boring and lame.
Full disclaimer: The author of this article is Muslim.
Siraj Hashmi is a commentary video editor and writer for the Washington Examiner.
